US v. Rabhan, No. 09-60683

Conviction for False Statements to Bank Reversed

In US v. Rabhan, No. 09-60683, the court reversed defendant's conviction for conspiracy to violate 18 U.S.C. section 1014 by making material false statements for the purpose of influencing a federally insured bank and a U.S. agency in connection with a loan to procure a catfish farm in Mississippi where the government failed to rebut defendant's prima facie showing that the conspiracies charged in Georgia and Mississippi were a single conspiracy.

As the court wrote:  "Defendant-Appellant Erwin David Rabhan is charged in the Northern District of Mississippi under 18 U.S.C. § 371 for conspiracy to violate 18 U.S.C. § 1014 by making material false statements for the purpose of influencing a federally insured bank and a United States agency in connection with a loan to procure a catfish farm in Mississippi. Rabhan previously pled guilty in the Southern District of Georgia to a single count bill of information charging a § 371 conspiracy to violate § 1014 and 18 U.S.C. § 1344 in connection with making false statements to obtain a loan from a different federally insured bank to build a catfish processing plant in Georgia."

Related Resources

• Read the Fifth Circuit's Decision in US v. Rabhan, No. 09-60683