U.S. v. Robinson

Defendants were found guilty of multiple federal crimes, including wire fraud and bank fraud, for a scheme in which they used their positions at a local housing authority to hire contractors to perform fictional maintenance work and then took a cut of the payments for those projects. On appeal, defendants challenged the sufficiency of the evidence. The Seventh Circuit affirmed the wire fraud convictions but reversed the bank fraud convictions, finding that the government failed to identify a false statement that went to a bank. The appellate court also remanded with direction for the district court to clarify the joint and several nature of the restitution amount. (ROVNER, concurring and EASTERBROOK, specially concurring)