Mail Fraud Indictment Sustained for Case Involving Commercial Driver’s Licenses
May 7, 2012 By Greg Hill & Associates
18 U.S.C. § 1341 prohibits the use of the U.S. Mail in furtherance of “any scheme or artifice to defraud.” This statute was enacted in 1872. In 1999, Congress added the words, “or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises.”
Later, a further amendment was added called an “honest services” component, making it a crime “to deprive individuals, the people, or the government of intangible rights, such as the right to have public officials perform their duties honestly.”
Defendants Aleksander Djordjevic, Elvedin Bilanovic, Muhamed Kovacic, Tony Lamb, Ismail Hot and Brano Milovanovic were charged with conspiracy in devising a scheme to defraud the State of Washington Department of Licensing (DOL) by soliciting bribes to cause The State of Washington to issue commercial truck driver’s licenses to unqualified non-residents. The scheme was sophisticated and preyed upon Bosnian-speaking individuals.
The State of Washington outsources its testing of applicants for commercial truck driver’s licenses. Some of the Defendants contracted with the State of Washington to act as translators for non-English speaking applicants taking the written portion of the test. Other Defendants administered the driving skills portion of such tests. Defendants allegedly conspired to falsify test results for certain non-English speaking, non-Washington State residents and used an address in Spokane, Washington for the non-resident applicants.
At the indictment, Defendants moved to have all charges dismissed by arguing that they, as state subcontractors, owed no formal fiduciary duty to the State because they were independent contractors and there was no defined economic harm to the State of Washington, i.e. some quantifiable harm. The trial court agreed and dismissed the case. The Prosecution appealed.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in United States v. Brano Milovanovic, et al. (2012 DJDAR 5162), then reversed the trial court. The analysis began with the understanding that since the grand jury indicated Defendants, the Court of Appeals would evaluate the sufficiency of the complaint while drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of the government.
Turning to the allegations at issue, the Court of Appeals noted that Defendant Milovanovic contacted Bosnian speaking individuals residing outside the State of Washington and offered to provide them a commercial drivers’ license for $2,500. If the individual was interested, he or she would come to Spokane, where Milovanovic would act as a “translator” during the written exam. Milovanovic, however, would do more than just translate. He would tell the applicant in his native tongue the correct answer or use hand signals to help indicate how to answer. The individual always “passed” the exam.
Milovanovic would then contact Defendant Lamb, who would be paid $200 to $500, to pass the applicant on the skills test. The scheme was eventually discovered.
The Court of Appeals then applied a more relaxed standard then the trial court, finding that Defendants did owe the State a duty of loyalty, trust and confidence under the “honest services” amendment to the Mail Fraud Act. The Court of Appeal found that each Defendant breached this duty by accepting bribes and helping applicants cheat on tests.
Therefore, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court. Consequently, the indictment was sustained and the case was ordered to proceed.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Greg Hill, Greg Hill and Associates
This article was written by Greg Hill. He has defended wire and mail fraud cases, as well as other offenses, all over the state of California. He is an attorney in Torrance, California and a former Marine Officer. He is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate (B.S., 1987), Boston University graduate (M.B.A., 1994) and Loyola Law School graduate (J.D., 1998).
Copyright Greg Hill & Associates
More information about Greg Hill & Associates
Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, it is not intended to provide legal advice as individual situations will differ and should be discussed with an expert and/or lawyer. For specific technical or legal advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the author.
Defendants Aleksander Djordjevic, Elvedin Bilanovic, Muhamed Kovacic, Tony Lamb, Ismail Hot and Brano Milovanovic were charged with conspiracy in devising a scheme to defraud the State of Washington Department of Licensing (DOL) by soliciting bribes to cause The State of Washington to issue commercial truck driver’s licenses to unqualified non-residents. The scheme was sophisticated and preyed upon Bosnian-speaking individuals.
The State of Washington outsources its testing of applicants for commercial truck driver’s licenses. Some of the Defendants contracted with the State of Washington to act as translators for non-English speaking applicants taking the written portion of the test. Other Defendants administered the driving skills portion of such tests. Defendants allegedly conspired to falsify test results for certain non-English speaking, non-Washington State residents and used an address in Spokane, Washington for the non-resident applicants.
At the indictment, Defendants moved to have all charges dismissed by arguing that they, as state subcontractors, owed no formal fiduciary duty to the State because they were independent contractors and there was no defined economic harm to the State of Washington, i.e. some quantifiable harm. The trial court agreed and dismissed the case. The Prosecution appealed.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in United States v. Brano Milovanovic, et al. (2012 DJDAR 5162), then reversed the trial court. The analysis began with the understanding that since the grand jury indicated Defendants, the Court of Appeals would evaluate the sufficiency of the complaint while drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of the government.
Turning to the allegations at issue, the Court of Appeals noted that Defendant Milovanovic contacted Bosnian speaking individuals residing outside the State of Washington and offered to provide them a commercial drivers’ license for $2,500. If the individual was interested, he or she would come to Spokane, where Milovanovic would act as a “translator” during the written exam. Milovanovic, however, would do more than just translate. He would tell the applicant in his native tongue the correct answer or use hand signals to help indicate how to answer. The individual always “passed” the exam.
Milovanovic would then contact Defendant Lamb, who would be paid $200 to $500, to pass the applicant on the skills test. The scheme was eventually discovered.
The Court of Appeals then applied a more relaxed standard then the trial court, finding that Defendants did owe the State a duty of loyalty, trust and confidence under the “honest services” amendment to the Mail Fraud Act. The Court of Appeal found that each Defendant breached this duty by accepting bribes and helping applicants cheat on tests.
Therefore, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court. Consequently, the indictment was sustained and the case was ordered to proceed.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Greg Hill, Greg Hill and Associates
This article was written by Greg Hill. He has defended wire and mail fraud cases, as well as other offenses, all over the state of California. He is an attorney in Torrance, California and a former Marine Officer. He is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate (B.S., 1987), Boston University graduate (M.B.A., 1994) and Loyola Law School graduate (J.D., 1998).
Copyright Greg Hill & Associates
More information about Greg Hill & Associates
View all articles published by Greg Hill & Associates
Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, it is not intended to provide legal advice as individual situations will differ and should be discussed with an expert and/or lawyer. For specific technical or legal advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the author.
