The single opinion the Circuit issued today is United States v. Daugerdas, No. 14-2437-cr (Circuit Judges: Kearse, Walker, and Cabranes). The defendant was a Certified Public Accountant and tax attorney. He and others designed tax shelters (for wealthy clients) in which the transactions underlying the shelters focused on the transactions tax consequences, not on their profitability. … Read more
One major decision out of the Second Circuit today, United States v. Rowland (Docket 15-985). It’s a good read for those interested in statutory construction and interpretation. A brief overview of the facts: The defendant, John Rowland was once governor of Connecticut. After being released from federal custody following a 2004 conviction for corruption and … Read more
In United States v. Tagliaferri, No. 15–536, the Second Circuit held that a conviction for investment adviser fraud, under section 206 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, 15 U.S.C. § 80b–6 and 80b–17, requires only intent to deceive one’s clients, not intent to harm them as well. Tagliaferri ran a boutique investment advisory firm … Read more
United States v. Shellef, No. 06-1495-cr (2d Cir. November 8, 2007) (Pooler, Sack, Wesley, CJJ) In this decision applying Fed.R.Cr.P 8, the court held that counts were improperly joined against two separate defendants, and that the misjoinders were not harmless. The decision also has an interesting discussion of some unusual wire fraud theories. Defendants Shellef … Read more
United States v. Carlo, No. 06-2420-cr (2d Cir. November 19, 2007) (Kearse, Katzmann, CJJ, Rakoff, DJ) This short per curiam opinion discusses the sufficiency of the evidence in a wire fraud prosecution, where the prosecution proceeded on an unusual theory. The defendant Carlo and others defrauded real estate developers by making misrepresentations about Carlo’s efforts … Read more