United States v. Rosenblatt

554 F.2d 36 (1977)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Morris D. Brooks made false entries in the accounts payable records at the Manhattan Postal Service headquarters where he worked. Brooks obtained eight checks totaling over $180,000. The checks were drawn on the United States Treasury and were payable to individuals having no claim to payment from the Postal Service. Brooks was caught and indicted for conspiracy to defraud the United States, and charged with eight counts of falsifying postal records. He pled guilty and then testified against D. D was a Rabbi was the Dean of the Rabbinical College of Queens. At Brooks' request, he 'laundered' the eight checks through the college's bank account. D kept ten percent of the face value of the checks for his services. D was indicted for conspiracy to defraud the United States. D was tried and convicted by a jury and sentenced to six months imprisonment and a fine of $8,000. P did stipulate, that D did not know the truth about Brooks' activities. Brooks led him to believe that the checks were valid. Brooks told d that the purpose of the laundering operation was to help some payees evade taxes and to help other payees conceal kickbacks on government contracts. Both men agreed to defraud the United States, but neither agreed on the type of fraud. D appealed. D argues that under 18 U.S.C. § 371 a conspiracy to defraud the United States must be grounded upon agreement on some common scheme or plan.