By: Derek Hawkins//October 20, 2015//
Criminal
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Officials: FLAUM, RIPPLE, and SYKES, Circuit Judges.
Sufficiency of Evidence – Evidentiary Rulings
No. 14-2914
United States of America v. Belal Faruki
Sufficient evidence provided to corroborate false statements made to investors by appellant.
““A scheme to defraud requires the making of a false statement or material misrepresentation, or the concealment of [a] material fact.” United States v. Powell, 576 F.3d 482, 490 (7th Cir. 2009) (alteration in original) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Marc Tishfield testified that Faruki made a number of false statements to him, as well as his brother-in-law, Richard Schottenfeld, in order to convince both men to invest in the Neural Markets fund. In reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, we must take Tishfield’s testimony as true—that Faruki told Tishfield he was managing $5 million in real investor funds, had active accounts at TradeStation and JPMorgan, and had hired RSM McGladrey to audit his fund, among other misrepresentations—and accept that Faruki made these false statements. The government independently verified that many of the statements alleged were false by obtaining records from TradeStation, JPMorgan, and RSM McGladrey, offering further proof that Faruki was untruthful regarding accounts and services obtained from these institutions.”
Affirmed.