United States v. Syed Madad

MEMORANDUM

Syed Madad appeals the sentence imposed following his convictions for wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1343 and tax fraud under 26 U.S.C. § 7206 (1). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

1. Madad argues the district court should not have applied a two-level “sophisticated means” enhancement under U.S. Sentencing Guideline § 2Bl.l(b)(10)(C). The commentary to Guideline § 2B1.1 explains that “ ‘sophisticated means’ means especially complex or especially intricate offense conduct pertaining to the execution or concealment of an offense.” U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1, cmt. 9(B). Madad generated detailed, fabricated account statements and reports for several years; invented a non-existent IRS inves tigation to buy time to satisfy an investor’s withdrawal request; and when other investors became concerned, produced more fake documents purporting to show that their money was safe in an account with UBS. Madad’s scheme was sufficiently complex to support applying the sophisticated means enhancement. See, e.g., United States v. Tanke, 743 F.3d 1296, 1307 (9th Cir.2014) (affirming enhancement where defendant attempted to cover up embezzlement by falsifying invoices and…