On appeal from The United States District Court
for the Western District of New York
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Date: 11-26-2021
Case Style:
United States of America v. Steve S. Jabar aka Steve Shariff, aka Satar Jabar, aka Kamal Jabar, aka Kamal Jamel, and Deborah Bowers
Case Number: 17-3514 (L)
Judge: JOHN M. WALKER, JR.
Court: United States Court of Appeals
For the Second Circuit On appeal from The United States District Court
for the Western District of New York
Plaintiff's Attorney: Tiffany H. Lee, Assistant United States Attorney,
for James P. Kennedy, Jr., United States Attorney
for the Western District of New York
New York, NY - Criminal defense lawyer represented defendants charged with wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The United States appeals from a post-verdict judgment of
acquittal entered by the District Court for the Western District of New
York (Lawrence J. Vilardo, J.) with respect to the convictions of
defendants Steve S. Jabar and Deborah Bowers for wire fraud, in
violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in
4 17-3514 (L)
violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. The government argues that a reasonable
jury could infer that the defendants had an intent to defraud the
United Nations (UN) when they diverted for personal use more than
$65,000 of grant money awarded to their non-profit organization.
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government,
we conclude that there was sufficient evidence for the jury to convict
on the wire fraud and related counts. Because the district court did
not reach defendants’ motion for a new trial on these counts, we
remand for it to consider the motion in the first instance.
Jabar and Bowers also cross-appeal the district court’s order
denying their motions for a judgment of acquittal or a new trial on
their convictions for making false statements, in violation of 18 U.S.C.
§ 1001. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the
government, we conclude that there was sufficient evidence for the
jury to convict defendants for their false statements. We discern no
errors with respect to the false statement convictions that would
require a new tria
Outcome: Accordingly, we REVERSE the district court’s judgment of
acquittal on the wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy counts;
AFFIRM the district court’s denial of a judgment of acquittal and a
new trial on the false statement counts; and REMAND with
directions for the entry of judgment consistent with the foregoing and
for consideration of the motion for a new trial on the wire fraud and
wire fraud conspiracy counts.