United States v. Frederick Simon

FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION MAY 12 2010
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 09-30129
Plaintiff - Appellee, D.C. No. 2:07-CR-00131-WFN-1
v.
MEMORANDUM *
FREDERICK MANFRED SIMON,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Washington
William Fremming Nielsen, Senior District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted May 3, 2010
Seattle, Washington
Before: HALL, WARDLAW and GOULD, Circuit Judges.
Frederick Manfred Simon appeals the denial of his motion for judgment of
acquittal under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29. We have jurisdiction
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
Simon was convicted of one count of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C.
§ 1343. At the close of the government’s case, Simon moved for judgment of
acquittal under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29. We review de novo the
district court’s denial of Simon’s Rule 29 motion. See United States v. Johnson,
357 F.3d 980, 983 (9th Cir. 2004). We agree with the district court that, viewing
the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, a rational juror could
have found the essential elements of wire fraud beyond a reasonable doubt. See
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979).
The government introduced ample circumstantial evidence of specific intent
to defraud. United States v. Rogers, 321 F.3d 1226, 1230 (9th Cir. 2003) (“It is
settled law that intent to defraud may be established by circumstantial evidence.”).
The evidence showed that Simon agreed to sell Zeefax Limited (“Zeefax”)
industrial parts for $162,400. Simon demanded in-cash payments of 30% of the
contract price ($48,743) at contract formation, an additional 30% when the parts
were ready to ship, and the remainder on delivery. Zeefax paid the first $48,743
installment at contract formation and the second $48,743 installment based on
Simon’s representation that the parts were ready to ship. Frederick, however, did
not ship anything, and when Zeefax followed up, Frederick provided a number of
inconsistent excuses, including that he had not assembled the entire order, that he
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shipped the goods, that he partially shipped the goods, that Zeefax had breached
the contract, and that he would not ship the goods until he had written confirmation
from Zeefax that the goods’ final destination was not the country of Iran, an
embargoed country. In addition, Simon’s administrative assistant, Jodie Tyson-
Flynn, testified that Simon’s business was a “hoax.” She explained that Simon
would routinely take orders, create false packing slips when customers called
looking for their shipments, but ultimately would never ship anything.
Accordingly, there is sufficient evidence from which a rational juror could find
Simon guilty of wire fraud. See United States v. Sullivan, 522 F.3d 967, 974 (9th
Cir. 2008) (“Intent may be inferred from misrepresentations made by the
defendants, and the scheme itself may be probative circumstantial evidence of an
intent to defraud.” (citations omitted)).
AFFIRMED.
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