Court Opinion

ID: 9368504
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-02-04 01:00:28.198776+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:08.593809
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-20025         Document: 00516635055             Page: 1      Date Filed: 02/03/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit
                                      ____________                              United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                         Fifth Circuit

                                       No. 22-20025
                                                                                       FILED
                                                                                 February 3, 2023
                                     Summary Calendar
                                     ____________                                 Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                       Clerk
   United States of America,

                                                                      Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                             versus

   Anurag Dass,

                                               Defendant—Appellant.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Southern District of Texas
                               USDC No. 4:17-CR-649-2
                      ______________________________

   Before Smith, Southwick, and Douglas, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam:*
          Per a written agreement, Anurag Dass pleaded guilty of aiding and
   abetting the receipt of a $7,710 healthcare kickback, in violation of 42 U.S.C.
   § 1320a-7b, and money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957. The dis-
   trict court ordered forfeiture of a $928,621.16 money judgment and $500,000
   seized from a bank account. Dass contends that her appeal waiver does not

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-20025      Document: 00516635055           Page: 2     Date Filed: 02/03/2023

                                     No. 22-20025

   bar review of her challenge to the forfeiture order, and she challenges the for-
   feiture of the money judgment while contending that the money seized from
   the bank account was not subject to forfeiture.
          The parties dispute whether the appeal waiver in Dass’s plea agree-
   ment precludes us from addressing the merits of some of her arguments on
   appeal. The issue whether a waiver bars an appeal is not jurisdictional.
   United States v. Story, 439 F.3d 226, 230-31 (5th Cir. 2006); see also United
   States v. Smith, 528 F.3d 423, 424 (5th Cir. 2008). Therefore, we pretermit
   that issue.
          Because Dass did not challenge the forfeiture of the $500,000 seized
   from the bank account, we review for plain error. See United States v. Omigie,
   977 F.3d 397, 403 (5th Cir. 2020). For plain error, an appellant must show a
   forfeited error that is clear or obvious and that affects her substantial rights.
   Puckett v. United States, 556 U.S. 129, 135 (2009). If the appellant makes such
   a showing, we have the discretion to correct the error, but only if it seriously
   affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings. Id.
          For forfeiture of property, “we ‘must determine whether the govern-
   ment has established the requisite nexus between th[at] property and the
   [charged] offense’ under the applicable statute.” United States v. Ayika,
   837 F.3d 460, 469 (5th Cir. 2016) (quoting Fed. R. Crim. P. 32.2(b)-
   (1)(A)). “The Government must establish the requisite nexus between the
   property and the offense by a preponderance of the evidence.” United States
   v. Juluke, 426 F.3d 323, 326 (5th Cir. 2005).
          Dass maintains that the money seized from the bank account was not
   subject to forfeiture. An individual convicted of money laundering under
   § 1957 must “forfeit to the United States any property, real or personal, in-
   volved in such offense, or any property traceable to such property.”
   18 U.S.C. § 982(a)(1). Despite Dass’s assertions to the contrary, she expli-

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Case: 22-20025       Document: 00516635055          Page: 3   Date Filed: 02/03/2023

                                     No. 22-20025

   citly admitted in her plea agreement that the $500,000 seized from the bank
   account was involved in her money-laundering offense. Because a forfeiture
   determination “may be based on evidence already in the record, including
   any written plea agreement,” the government demonstrated the requisite
   nexus between the money from the account and Dass’s money-laundering
   offense. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 32.2(b)(1)(B). Accordingly, the district
   court did not err in ordering the forfeiture.
            By contrast, the government concedes that the $928,621.16 money
   judgment includes proceeds from criminal activity outside the scope of
   Dass’s convictions and requests that the judgment of sentence be vacated
   and remanded for recalculation. For this issue, we need not decide the stan-
   dard of review because the appellant is entitled to relief even under the plain-
   error standard. See United States v. Rodriguez, 602 F.3d 346, 361 (5th Cir.
   2010).
            For an individual convicted of a federal healthcare offense, courts
   “shall order the person to forfeit property, real or personal, that constitutes
   or is derived, directly or indirectly, from gross proceeds traceable to the com-
   mission of the offense.” 18 U.S.C. § 982(a)(7); see 18 U.S.C. § 24. Criminal
   forfeiture by virtue of the civil-forfeiture statute would have essentially the
   same limitation. See 18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(C); 28 U.S.C. § 2461(c); see also
   18 U.S.C. §§ 24, 1956(c)(7)(F).
            The government admits, and the record supports, that the imposition
   of the $928,621.16 money judgment was a clear and obvious error because it
   included proceeds that were not traceable to Dass’s $7,710 healthcare kick-
   back offense. Moreover, but for the error, there is a reasonable probability
   that the money judgment would have been substantially less than
   $928,621.16. See United States v. Escalante-Reyes, 689 F.3d 415, 424 (5th Cir.
   2012) (en banc). Finally, because the error resulted in forfeiture of a substan-

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                                     No. 22-20025

   tial amount of money without statutory authorization, the error seriously
   affects the fairness, integrity, and public reputation of judicial proceedings.
   See United States v. Sanjar, 876 F.3d 725, 750 (5th Cir. 2017). Therefore, we
   exercise our discretion to correct this error.
          Based upon the foregoing, we AFFIRM the forfeiture of the
   $500,000 seized from the subject bank account, but because part of the
   $928,621.16 money judgment lacks the required statutory nexus, we
   VACATE the forfeiture order and REMAND for recalculation of the
   money judgment and entry of a corrected order.

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