United States v. Mirza Ali, AKA Zulfiqar Eqbal, AKA Henry Stone

Appellant Mirza Ali (“Ali”) was convicted of one count of bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344 (1), and one count of making a false statement to obtain a bank loan, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014 . He was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment, four years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution to the victim bank. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we reverse the conviction.

Both the bank fraud count and the false statement count pertain to a loan Ali obtained from the Cupertino National Bank (“CNB” or the “bank”) in May 1997. Both counts alleged that CNB was a federally insured financial institution at the time of the relevant conduct. “Proof of federally-insured status of the affected institution is, for both section 1344 and section 1014, a jurisdictional prerequisite as well as an element of the substantive crime.” United States v. Key, 76 F.3d 350, 353 (11th Cir.1996). See 18 U.S.C. §§ 1014 , 1344; see also 18 U.S.C. § 20 (defining “financial institution”). Ali contends that the evidence introduced, at trial is insufficient to prove this element beyond a reasonable doubt. We agree.

There is sufficient evidence to support a…