United States v. RizkUnited States v. Rizk
OPINION
Lila Rizk appeals her jury conviction for one count of conspiracy in violation of
I
A
Lila Rizk was a licensed real estate appraiser based in Orange County, Califor
Rizk actively participated in the mortgage fraud scheme. The lenders required appraisals before they would approve home loans. The appraisals generated by Rizk made the homes appеar to be worth much more than their true values. The lenders relied on Rizk’s inflated appraisals in funding and buying the loans. In providing the inflated appraisals, Rizk followed an array of improper and risk-enhancing practices. Rizk improperly ignored the original sellers’ list prices, often hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars less than her appraisals. Rizk did not use genuinely comparable properties. Rizk used as “comparable” properties homes that were distant from, differed from, or had sold long before the homes being appraised. Rizk also used homes, for which she had previously given inflated appraisals, as “comparable” properties. Both from the improper acts that she did in fashioning appraisals, and from her failure to use appropriate practices in determining market values of comparable properties, there was abundant evidence that Rizk did not exercise an independent professional judgment in making her appraisals for Abrams and Fitzgerald.
B
Before trial, the government moved in limine to introduce charts summarizing the properties involved in the scheme. The charts listed 96 properties in chronological order of the corresponding loan transactions. The first chart showed the following data for each property: 1) the actual escrow closing date and the date reported to the lender; 2) the actual sale price and the price reported to the lender; 3) the amount of the loan funded; 4) whether the real estate agents who participated in the scheme received a commission; 5) if so, how much; 6) the named appraisers on the appraisals submitted to the lender; and 7) whether Rizk provided records about the transaction to the government under subpoena.
The second chart showed the following data for each property: 1) the appraisal date; 2) the appraisal value submitted to the lender; 3) the named apрraisers on the appraisals submitted to the lender; and 4) the addresses of comparable properties used in the appraisal. This chart used color-coding to show how Rizk used properties she had previously appraised at inflated values as comparables in later appraisals.
The district court granted the government’s motion, concluding over objection that the charts were admissible under
Rizk was a named appraiser in only 39 of the 96 transactions shown on the charts. But at trial the government presented evidence showing that Rizk had prepared the appraisals for all 96 transactions. The summary charts showed that Rizk had produced rеcords to the government regarding transactions in which she was not a named appraiser. These records included sketches, notes, emails, and at least one appraisal matching a submitted appraisal. The government introduced testimony that later in the scheme, Rizk’s co-conspirators removed her name from the appraisals and substituted the names of unwitting appraisers not connected to the scheme. Her co-conspirators testified that Rizk knew and was relieved that her name was no longer being used on the appraisals. And the government showed that Rizk continued to receive compensation from Abrams and Fitzgеrald long after the submitted appraisals stopped bearing her name.
At trial, Rizk admitted that her appraisals were too high, but argued that she made them in good faith and that she lacked knowledge of the conspiracy. Rizk argued that Abrams exploited her because she was based in Orange County and “didn’t know” Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, or Bel Air, which housed the subject properties she appraised. She said that the only sale price she was given for a property was the falsified, inflated sale price (not the true sale price kept confidential) and that she used the price she was given as her starting point. She said that Abrams gave her the deficient comparable properties and misrepresented them to her, that she believed Abrams was credible, and that she did not know she was using bad comparables. Rizk also contested the government’s proffer that she had performed the appraisals in all 96 transactions listed on the summary charts. She claimed that for some properties, Abrams, Fitzgerald, and their associates had produced the appraisals and forged her name. In short, Rizk’s defense was that despite her failure to perform the due diligence required of her in making the appraisals, she did not knowingly participate in the scheme, and lacked the required intent tо support a conviction for conspiracy, bank fraud, and loan fraud.
From the evidence presented to it, the jury might have viewed Rizk as a key and knowing participant in a deliberate fraud, or as an innocent and unknowing dupe used and manipulated by the ringleaders of the fraud. However, the jury did not believe Rizk’s account. It found her guilty on all counts.
Rizk then filed a motion for acquittal, which the district court denied. The district court sentenced Rizk to a three-year prison term, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release, and it ordered
We address in turn Rizk’s contentions on appeal.
II
Rizk challenges the admission of the charts summarizing the real estate transactions involved in the fraud scheme. First, she contends that the charts let the government put facts before the jury without presenting evidence of those facts. Second, she complains that because the charts cover transаctions not specifically referenced in the indictment, they were “other acts” evidence under
A
We review a district court’s decision to admit evidence for abuse of discretion.
Boyd v. City & Cnty. of S.F.,
Before addressing the particular challenges that Rizk makes to the admission of the summary charts under
A proponent of summary evidence must establish that the underlying materials upon which the summary is based (1) are admissible in evidence and (2) were made available to the opposing party for inspection.
Amarel v. Connell,
Here, the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the government’s summary charts under
B
We review de novo whether a summary chart falls within the scope of
The rule is well established that the government in a conspiracy case may submit proof on the full scope of the conspiracy; it is not limited in its proof to the overt acts alleged in the indictment. This is consistent with our own prior precedent and that of other circuits.
See, e.g., Montgomery,
The district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the government’s summary charts were within the scope of the indictment. The real estate transactions shown on the charts were “inextricably intertwined” with the conspiracy charge and were not “other acts” subject to
C
The district court has broad discretion to admit potentially prejudicial evidence under
The making оf rulings on disputed points of evidence is the bread and butter of trial. It comes up every day in a trial,
Rizk contends on appeal that the district court insufficiently weighed the prejudicial effect of the summary charts. She argues that the charts’ comparison of true and inflated sales prices for the 96 homes was unfairly prejudicial because it permitted the inference that for each home the appraisal was fraudulent and Rizk had prepared it, though she was the named appraiser in less than half of the transactions.
To the extent that Rizk’s
Even if we view Rizk’s
Applying these principles, we conclude that a jury rationally could view the summary charts as proof of the scope of the conspiracy and of Rizk’s broad participation in it.
4
Because the charts sup
Ill
Rizk argues that the evidence at trial was insufficient to sustain her convictions because the government did not establish that she had knowledge of the objective of the conspiracy and that she had the requisite intent to commit bank fraud and loan fraud. After trial, Rizk moved for a judgment of acquittal under
We review de novo the denial of Rizk’s
A
“To prove a conspiracy under
Rizk contends that the evidence was insufficient to establish that she knew of the objective of the conspiracy. We disagree. Rizk selectively identifies evidence from the record tending to show her unwitting participation in the scheme. For example, she points to testimony that her co-conspirators kept certain information from her related to the fraud. But the government did not hаve to present direct evidence that Rizk knew every detail about the conspiracy.
See Wright,
B
The essential elements of bank fraud under
Rizk argues that the government had to prove an additional element, intent to expose a lender to a risk of loss. She contends that there was insufficient evidence to sustain her conviction for bank fraud because the government did not do so. This circuit “has never adopted a ‘risk of loss’ analysis in bank fraud cases.”
United States v. Wolfswinkel,
C
To convict a defendant of loan fraud under
United States v. Tannehill
illustrates how circumstantial evidence can establish intentional overvaluation of property. In that case, the defendant challenged his
Rizk argues that the government did not establish that she knowingly overvalued the properties or that she knew her appraisals enabled Abrams to fraudulently obtain loans. But here, as in
Tannehill,
there was “ample evidence” to allow a rational jury to find that Rizk willfully overvalued property.
See
IV
Rizk’s final challenge is to the district court’s restitution order that she pay $46,515,846 to the victim lenders. She argues that the order conflicts with a prior civil settlement before the same district judge. The settlement agreement provided that, in exchange for Rizk’s payment of $967,083.68, the policy limit of her еrrors and omissions insurance policy, the victim lenders would release all claims against Rizk for losses they sustained because of her appraisals. Because Rizk did not raise this issue before the district court, we review again for plain error.
United States v. Van Alstyne,
The Mandatory Victim Restitution Act (“MVRA”) requires a district court, in sentencing a defendant convicted of certain offenses, including an offense against property committed by fraud,
see
In
United States v. Edwards,
we rejected a defendant’s contention that a prior bankruptcy settlement precluded a later criminal restitution order.
Rizk’s argument that her prior civil settlement precluded the district court’s restitution order is foreclosed by our decision in Edwards. The MVRA required the district court to order restitution to the victim lenders. We hold that the district court did not err in ordering restitution to be paid to the victim lenders, despite the fact that they had given a release of all claims against Rizk in the prior civil action.
But the district court did err in ordering Rizk to pay $46,515,846 to the victim lenders. Because Rizk’s insurer paid the victim lеnders $967,083.68 pursuant to the settlement agreement, the district court should have ordered Rizk to pay, first, $45,548,762.32 to the victim lenders, and then, $967,083.68 to Rizk’s insurer.
See
A district court may not order restitution such that victims will receive an amount greater than their actual losses; to do so is plain error.
See United States v. Fu Sheng Kuo,
Under the current restitution order, which is properly before us on this appeal, the victim lenders will receive $967,083.68 more than their actual losses, so imposition of the order in this respect was plain error. We vacate the restitution order and remand with instructions that the district court enter a corrected order. The new restitution order shall reduce the restitution owed to the victim lenders by
V
Rizk’s convictions are AFFIRMED on all counts. The district court’s restitution order is VACATED and REMANDED with instructions.
Notes
. The overt acts and substantive counts of the indictment identified only nine specific properties. But the indictment alleged that the defendants committed the enumerated overt acts, "among others,” in furtherance of the conspiracy.
. Rizk complains that the government did not establish, among other things, the fair market value of each property listed on the charts. But this contention — about what the charts did not include — goes to their weight rather than their admissibility.
See United States v. Scholl,
. In opposition to the government’s motion in limine, Rizk and her co-defendants argued that the summary charts were overbroad because they included properties not specifically named in the indictment. Because Rizk's 404(b) argument on appeal is similar in substance to the defendants’ argument below, we treat her 404(b) argument as one raised before the district court.
. In her Reply Brief, Rizk frames her objection that the charts exceeded the indictment’s scope as a relevance challenge based on