United States v. Barbara Nolan and Nhg Pension Associates, Inc., August Mezzetta Gb Resources, Inc. And Gotham Associates, Ltd. PartnershipUnited States v. Barbara Nolan and Nhg Pension Associates, Inc., August Mezzetta Gb Resources, Inc. And Gotham Associates, Ltd. Partnership
August Mezzetta, GB Resources, Inc., and Gotham Associates, Ltd. Partnership, were convicted after a jury trial of conspiring to embezzle the assets of a pension plan covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), in violation of
BACKGROUND
In the mid-1970’s, Mezzetta was responsible for managing certain funds of the pension plan of Local 12 of the Union of Roofers, Wаterproofers, and Allied Workers (“Roofers”), an employee pension benefit plan within the meaning of ERISA,
In 1981, Mezzetta and Nolan created the NHG Master Retirement Trust (the “Trust”), with NHG as settlor and U.S. Trust Company as custodian. At Mezzetta’s direction, NHG put the Roofers’ assets into the Trust, along with other pension fund assets they were managing. Roofers did not know that their assets had been placed in a commingled trust account.
In January 1983, Nolan succeeded Mezzet-ta as President of NHG. In August of that year, Mezzetta and Nolan appointed GB Resources — another firm they created and owned — as “investment manager” of the Trust. Mezzetta instructed the trust officers at U.S. Trust that they were to take instructions from GB Resources in connection with the investment of the Trust assets. Based on the Trust agreement, the U.S. Trust officers viewed themselves as “directed trustees” — obligated to follow the instructions of Mezzetta and Nolan with respect to the Trust assets, so long as their indicated purpose was facially consistent with the Trust agreement. At this time the Trust assets were worth about $725,000, most of which appears to have been Roofers’ money.
Shortly after creating GB Resources, Mezzetta and Nolan formed another firm, Got
In November, Gotham purchased an apartment building on East 82nd Street in Manhattan for $735,000. Although Roofers had made it clear to Mezzetta in 1981 that he was not to invest pension plan money in real estate, Mezzetta and Nolan financed the purchase of the 82nd Street property with a $600,000 loan from the Trust. .After one of the lawyers in the loan transaction expressed a concern about an apparent conflict .of interest, because Mezzetta and Nolan were involved with both the lender and the borrower, Nolan appointed an outside consultant, Marvin Cohen, to аct as the Trust’s “co-fiduciary” in regard to the Gotham loan. The loan from the Trust to Gotham called for ten percent annual interest payable monthly, a balloon payment at the end of the note’s five year term, and a 25 percent annual penalty interest rate should Gotham fail to make the balloon payment on time.
In May 1985, Mezzetta, with Nolan’s concurrence, refinanced the 82nd Street property so that Gotham could buy more real estate. In the process, Gotham secured a new loan and subordinated the 1983 note to it. With the proceeds of the 1985 loan, Mezzetta bought two more properties. Also in 1985, Mezzetta, apparently acting on his own, bought a building at 1-7 Clinton Street in Manhattan. He created 1-7 Clinton Street Associates for this purpose, with himself as general partner. Although Mezzetta informed U.S. Trust that the Trust was buying this property, he later told Bank officers that the Trust had no interest in the property and that the money to buy it did not come from the Trust. However; Mezzetta later attempted to amend the 1-7 Clinton Street Associates partnership agreement to reflect a Trust interest in this entity.
In 1987 the 82nd Street property was refinanced again and the 1985 loan was paid off. The 1983 Trust-Gotham note remained subordinated. Using proceeds from this latest refinancing together with $50,000 withdrawn directly from the Trust, Mezzetta and Nolan bought out the Gotham limited partners. Thus, by mid-1987, Mezzetta and Nolan owned Gotham outright.
Later in 1987, Gotham stopped рaying interest on the Trust-Gotham note. The note came due in 1988, but Gotham did not have the funds to pay it. Mezzetta and Nolan, acting on behalf of the payee and without notice to Roofers or the other participants in the Trust, and without the approval of U.S. Trust Company, extended the note until 1993, with interest continuing to accrue.
When an officer at U.S. Trust discovered that the Trust was not being paid the interest due it under the note, he wrote to Nolan, intimating that all the transactions starting with the $600,000 withdrawal from the Trust were illegal under ERISA. He told Mezzet-ta and Nolan that no further withdrawals would be permitted for anything to do with real estate on the ground that such withdrawals would not be facially valid under the Trust agreement. This did not stop the defendants’ machinations. “Advisory fees” were “facially valid” expenditures which obligated U.S. Trust to release funds from the Trust. By the fraudulent use of this term, Nolan and Mezzetta overdrew at least $640,-000 from the Trust. Mezzetta and Nolan characterized other withdrawals as “participant” withdrawals, which also were facially valid. However, they used the proceeds to pay for building repairs and the purchase of life insurance policies.
In 1989, the Roofers’ fund retained two accountants, Glen Belush and Doug Bebbington, to audit its assets in Mezzetta’s care and to prepare a 1988 IRS Form 5500, a document containing financial and other disclosures which Roofers was required to file with the Department of Labor. In August 1989, Mezzetta submitted a portfolio evaluation report to Roofers which included vague references to “1-7 Clinton St. — 225,000” and “NHG Master — 631,872.36.” Belush testified that, prior to completing and filing the 1988 Form, he repeatedly asked Mezzetta for more information about “1-7 Clinton Street” and “NHG Master,” but that Mezzetta never responded. Belush completed the Form with
In April 1990, during a meeting between Mezzetta and the Roofers’ trustees, Roofers’ plan administrator produced a 1987 pоrtfolio evaluation letter which he had received from Mezzetta. The letter plainly was intended to mislead, for in it Mezzetta made only passing reference to mortgages and failed to mention the NHG Master Retirement Trust, the $600,000 loan to Gotham, or any of the specific properties Gotham had bought. Nolan testified that Mezzetta prepared and submitted additional portfolio statements to Roofers in 1990-91 containing deliberate falsehoods.
The defendants were indicted in January 1995. Nolan pleaded guilty in August of that year and testified against the remaining defendants. Nolan’s testimony and.other evidence presented at appellants’ trial clearly established the above-described facts. The district court sentenced Mezzetta to a prison term of 87 months and ordered that he pay restitution in the amount of $2,819,250. Gotham was sentenced to a five year term of probation and ordered to pay restitution. GB Resources was ordered to pay a special assessment.
DISCUSSION
Appellants assert several grounds for reversal, none of which has merit. Appellants challenge first the district court’s jury instruction on the good-faith defense to the conspiracy and embezzlement charges in counts One and Two of the indictment. The statute that appellants were convicted of violating and conspiring to violate is
This language is almost identical with that of
Indeed, judges in the same circuit not always have agreed as to how the existence of such criminal intent is proven.
See, e.g., United States v. Silverman,
We find no evidence of such disagreement in the instant case. The only disagreement аsserted here is appellants’ attempt to demonstrate á conflict between our holdings in
United States v. Ottley,
In Butler, we said the same thing:
Authorization from and benefit to the union are the controlling lodestars to determine whether a defendant acted with the fraudulent intent to deprive the union of its money. See United States v. Floyd,882 F.2d 235 , 239-41 (7th Cir.1989). Accordingly, we have held that a union official charged with embezzling union funds, pursuant to29 U.S.C. § 501(c) , lacks the requisite criminal intent when the evidence establishes that he hаd a good-faith belief both that the funds were expended for the union’s benefit and that the expenditures were authorized (or would be ratified) by the union. See United States v. Ottley,509 F.2d 667 , 671 (2d Cir.1975); ...
Subsequent decisions of this Court state the rule as follows:
Because embezzlement is a specific intent offense, a defendant may not be said to have a fraudulent intent when there is a finding that he has a “good-faith belief both that the funds were expended for the union’s benefit and that the expenditures were authorized (or wоuld be ratified) by the union.” United States v. Butler,954 F.2d 114 , 118 (2d Cir.1992). See also United States v. Ottley,509 F.2d 667 , 671 (2d Cir.1975).
See, e.g., United States v. International Bhd. of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of Am., AFL-CIO,
Following the teachings of these cases, the court below charged as follows:
In making a determination of whether a defendant acted with specific criminal intent to deprive the Plan or a fund connected therewith of the use of its funds, you may consider the following:
(1) whether or not the alleged use of the funds of the Plan was authorized and whether оr hot that defendant had a good faith belief that such use was authorized or would be authorized; and
(2) whether or not that defendant had a good faith belief that such use of the funds of the Plan benefited the participants and beneficiaries of the Plan.
The Government has a burden of proving that a defendant acted with the required intent with respect to the elements of the respective definitions of embezzlement, stealing and abstracting or converting to his own use or the use of another, which definitions I reviewed earlier. Also, as is the case in Count One, good faith is an absolute defense to this charge. Accordingly, the Government must prove in the ease of each defendant that:
(1) that defendant did not believe in good faith that the use the Plan’s funds charge in the indictment benefited or would benefit the Plan participants and beneficiaries; or
(2) thát defendant did not believe in good faith that his or its use of the funds was authorized or would be authоrized by the Plan’s representatives.
This charge correctly stated the several items of proof that the Government had to satisfy in order to secure a conviction. If the Government’s proof failed as to either item, the jury was instructed to acquit. There was no error here.
-We also find no merit in Mezzetta’s challenge to his conviction of violating
Every person subject to a requirement to file any description or report or to certify any information thеrefor under this sub-chapter ... shall maintain records on the matters of which disclosure is required which will provide in sufficient detail the necessary basic information and data fromwhich the documents thus required may be verified, explained, or clarified, and checked for accuracy and completeness, and shall include vouchers, worksheets, receipts, and applicable resolutions....
Mezzetta contended below that the portfolio summaries he submitted to Roofers did not fall within the scope of
One of the basic goals of ERISA is the protection of the interests of pension plan participants through mandatory disclosure of financial information.
Mezzetta now contends that the district court should have asked the jury to decide whether GB Resources’ reports were required to be kept by the Roofers under ERISA. In support of this late argument, he cites
United States v. Gaudin,
Materiality is not an element of a
Mezzetta also argues relative to the count alleging that he caused false stаtements to be made in the IRS Form 5500: first, that the district court instructed the jury only on the traditional form of aider and abettor liability embodied in
The district court instructed the jury that Mezzetta was charged with “aiding and abetting and causing to be made false statements of fact in federal tax forms” in violation of
to sustain its burden of proof for the crime of aiding and abetting and causing to be made false statements] of fact ... as charged in Count Four ... the Government must prove ... beyond a reasonable doubt: first, that the [Roofers’] Plan was a pension benefit plan within the meaning of ERISA; second, that [Mezzetta] knowingly made or caused to be made a false statement or representation of fact in a Form 5500 annual report relating to the plan, or that [Mezzetta] knowingly concealed, covered up, or failed tо disclose, or caused to be concealed, covered up or. not disclosed, in such Form 5500 annual report any fact the disclosure of which is required by ERISA.
This language clearly conformed to the indictment and gave the jury a correct understanding of the Government’s burden under
We turn, then, to Mezzetta’s alternative contention that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction under
Mezzetta asserts that the government did not produce evidence from which the jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that he willfully “caused” Belush to file a false Form 5500 with the Department of Labor. We disagree. The proof at trial showed that Mezzetta knew Belush was preparing Roofers’ Form 5500 for submission to the government and using GB Resources’ portfolio reports for that purpose. Mezzetta knew that the portfolio reports were false and misleading. Belush testified that he repeatedly sought additional information for the express purpose of completing the Form and that Mezzetta was unresponsive. Belush made it clear to Mezzetta that if Mezzetta persisted in his recalcitrance, Belush would be obliged to complete and file the 1988 Form 5500 “based on what he had,” namely GB Resources’ false and misleading portfolio reports. That is what Belush did. The Government offered adequate proof that Mezzet-ta willfully caused Belush to file an inaсcurate Form 5500, contrary to
Mezzetta next contends that the district court erred in sustaining the Government’s objection to the two point base level increase recommended pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3B 1.1(c) in the Presentence Report and imposing instead a four point increase pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(a). The district
Mezzetta’s final contention is that the district court erred in calculating the damages attributable to him. The principal amount, $1,598,300, is uncontested. This includes the $600,000 that Mezzetta and Nolan embezzled via the Trust-Gotham note and the unauthorized withdrawals they made from the Trust. The district court refused to offset the losses by $455,000, the sum realizеd by Roofers from the sale of the 82nd Street property, and this decision likewise is not challenged on appeal. However, the district court included in the loss the unpaid interest and penalties payable on the Trust-Gotham note, and Mezzetta appeals this portion of his sentence.
It is true, as Mezzetta contends, that a sentencing court should not add to the loss amount its estimate of the interest or other investment return the victim might have earned had the mоney not been taken from him. This basic rule is stated in Guidelines section 2B1.1, Application Note 2 and in section 2F1.1, Application Note 7. The district court considered those Notes but concluded that they did not apply where,, as here, the money stolen included both principal and agreed-upon interest.
See United States v. Allender,
CONCLUSION
We have considered all of the appellants’ arguments and, finding none to have merit, we affirm.