United States v. Allan Boren

The government appeals the district court’s dismissal of two counts of an indictment alleging that Defendant Allan Boren made false statements to a federally insured bank in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014 . The statements were allegedly made in connection with a request to stop payment of an official bank check. The district court ruled that the first superseding indictment did not state an offense because it did not allege an intent to influence a lending activity. Because the statute criminalizes false statements in connection with any bank “application” or “commitment,” not just those relating to loans, we reverse.

I. Facts

A federal grand jury indicted Boren on two counts of making false statements for the purpose of influencing an institution insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 18 U.S.C. § 1014 , and one count of bank fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1344 . With the respect to Count One, bank fraud, the first superseding indictment alleged that Boren obtained an official bank check from Citibank in the amount of one million dollars. He “provide[d] the official bank check to the Hilton Casino” in Las Vegas, Nevada, “so that he could gamble at the casino.” After…