United States v. Daniel Bruce Bonallo

Defendant/appellant Daniel Bonallo appeals his conviction on 12 counts of bank fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1344 (1984). The appeal requires us to determine whether a scheme to defraud a bank under that statute requires that the misrepresentation actually precede the bank’s transfer of money or property to the perpetrator. We also consider the sufficiency of the indictment as well as the sufficiency of the evidence. Bonallo also contests the admissibility of certain evidence. We affirm his conviction on 11 of the 12 counts.

I. FACTS

Daniel Bonallo worked at American Data Services (American Data) beginning in 1979. American Data is a subsidiary of The Oregon Bank. American Data handles data processing for the Bank as well as for other banks. Bonallo worked in the Systems Development department, the function of which was to correct problems arising in the computer software. He was responsible for support of the Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) and Bank Card Management Systems.

Bank customers use an ATM machine to get cash, if the customer has an appropriately coded plastic card — i.e., a VISA, Mastercard or personal banking card — and a personal identification number (PIN). Once the…