United States v. Curtis J. Bernhardt, Michael F. McCarthy Harold T. Okahara, Jr., and Carl J. Bernhardt

The United States appeals the district court’s dismissal of twenty-nine counts of a seventy-four-count indictment. The subject counts charged defendants Curtis Bernhardt, Carl Bernhardt, Michael McCarthy, Harold Okahara (collectively appellees), and Daniel Matsukage with conspiracy to violate the mail fraud and wire fraud statutes of the United States, 18 U.S.C. §§ 371 , 1341, 1343 and 2. Sixty-five separate acts of mail fraud (Counts 2 through 66) and eight acts of wire fraud (Counts 67 through 74) were set forth. Upon the motion of the defendants and following the recommendation of a United States Magistrate, the district court dismissed certain of the mail fraud counts, holding, on the authority of Parr v. United States, 363 U.S. 370 , 80 S.Ct. 1171 , 4 L.Ed.2d 1277 (1960), that the mailings could not be held to have been made for the purpose of executing the alleged fraudulent scheme because they were normal business usages. We reverse and remand.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

Daniel Matsukage was president of both Pacific Standard Investment and Loan, Inc. (Pacific) and Real Estate Finance Corporation (REFC). Pacific is an industrial loan company authorized by Hawaii state law to…