Shaw v. United States
U.S. Supreme Court · decided December 12, 2016 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Decided
- December 12, 2016
- Term
- October Term 2016
- Vote
- 8–0
- Majority author
- Justice Breyer
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice BREYER delivered the opinion of the Court. A federal statute makes it a crime "knowingly [to] execut[e] a scheme ... to defraud a financial institution," 18 U.S.C. § 1344(1), for example, a federally insured bank, 18 U.S.C. § 20. The petitioner, Lawrence Shaw, was convicted of violating this provision. He argues here that the provision does not apply to him because he intended to cheat only a bank depositor, not a bank. We do not accept his arguments. I The relevant criminal statute makes it a crime: "knowingly [to] execut[e] a scheme ... "(1) to defraud a financial institution; or "(2) to obtain any of the moneys, funds, credits, assets, securities, or other property owned by, or under the custody or control of, a financial institution, by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises." § 1344. Shaw obtained the identifying numbers of a Bank of America account belonging to a bank customer, Stanley Hsu. Shaw used those numbers (and other related information) to transfer funds from Hsu's account to other accounts at other institutions from which Shaw could obtain (and eventually did obtain) Hsu's funds. Shaw was convicted of violating the first clause of the statute, namely, the prohibition against "defraud[ing] a financial institution." The Ninth Circuit affirmed his conviction. 781 F.3d 1130 (2015). Shaw then filed a petition for certiorari…
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