Capone v. United States

51 F.2d 609, 76 A.L.R. 1534, 10 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 286, 1931 U.S. App. LEXIS 2940, 2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) 786
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedJuly 24, 1931
Docket4457
StatusPublished
Cited by70 cases

This text of 51 F.2d 609 (Capone v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Capone v. United States, 51 F.2d 609, 76 A.L.R. 1534, 10 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 286, 1931 U.S. App. LEXIS 2940, 2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) 786 (7th Cir. 1931).

Opinion

EVANS, Circuit Judge

(after stating the facts as above). Pertinent statutory provisions aré set forth in the margin. 1

*613 Each count of the first indictment and each count of the third indictment attempts to charge a violation of section 80, title 18, USCA. Appellant contended that no offense is set forth in any of the four counts of these two indictments. He properly presented the. question, first, by demurrer to the indictment and then by motion to direct a verdict and still again by motion in arrest of judgment.

His objection to these four counts is based upon the alleged inapplicability of section 80, title 18, USCA, under which the indictments are drawn. It is evident that, if the objection is well taken, all four counts must fail unless the government can show that though drawn to state an offense under section 80, title 18, USCA, they are nevertheless good under section 1266, title 26, USCA.

Substantial parts of count 1 of the first indictment are set forth in the margin. 2

*614 It is appellant’s contention that the offenses covered hy section 80, title 18, USCA, are limited to the presentation of false claims against the government. In support of his position, he cites U. S. v. Cohn, 270 U. S. 339, 46 S. Ct. 251, 253, 70 L. Ed. 616; U. S. v. Bowman, 260 U. S. 94, 43 S. Ct. 39, 67 L. Ed. 149; U. S. v. Hull (D. C.) 14 F. 324.

Appellant relied strongly^ upon the Cohn Case, supra, to sustain the argument that section 80 applies only to offenders who present false claims against the government. He further supports his position by reference to the Revenue Act, which contains various sections making it unlawful for a taxpayer to willfully fail to file a return, to- willfully refuse to pay a tax due the government, to willfully conceal assets in connection with an offer of compromise, and to willfully attempt to evade or defeat a tax. Title 26, USCA, §§ 1265, 1266, 2616'.

Appellee meets this argument by contending : First, that section 80, as it now reads, is not limited to offenders who filed fraudulent claims against the government. Second, section 80 is not amended or repealed hy implication by the passage of the sections of the Revenue Act dealing with offenders who willfully fail to file returns or pay their tax, or who willfully attempt to evade or defeat a lawful tax due the government. Third, if section 80 be, by implication, amended by the aforesaid sections of the Revenue Act, the 1918 amendment to section 80 is nevertheless still applicable, because section 2616 (title 26, USCA) of the Revenue Act was not enacted until after appellant had made the misrepresentations. Fourth, if section 80 be modified or amended, or, by implication, repealed, so far as it applies to offending taxpayers, the first and third indictments are nevertheless good under section 1266, title 26, USCA, notwithstanding they were drawn with the purpose of stating an offense under said section 80.

The issues thus clearly drawn necessitate the consideration of the history of section 80, as well as the construction placed upon it by the courts that have dealt with it. It seems quite clear, and we accept it as established, that, prior to the amendment of 1918, section 80 applied solely to those offenders who filed fraudulent claims against the government. But in 1918, the act was amended by inserting the words “or for the purpose and with the intent of cheating and swindling or defrauding the Government of the United States, or any department thereof, or any corporation in which the United States of America is a stockholder, shall knowingly and willfully falsify or conceal or cover up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact, or make or cause to be made any false or fraudulent statements or representations * * * » qijj0 presence of these words, inserted by the amendment, can not be ignored. They must be given a meaning. To a certain extent, at least, the amendment makes inapplicable all of the decisions construing the section prior to this amendment. It is also clear that the effect of the amendment was to enlarge the class of offenders to which the section applied.

Who were thus included in the class by the amendment?

If we insert the word “whoever” after the word “or” for the purpose of clarity, there is little doubt or uncertainty as to its meaning. It would clearly include one who is indebted to the government for taxes, and who for the purpose and with the intent of cheating. and swindling or defrauding the government knowingly and willingly falsified, concealed, or covered up by any trick, scheme, or device, material facts, or who made or caused to be made any false or fraudulent statement or representation. If, however, we included after the word “or” the limitation found in the first line of the statute, “whoever shall make or cause to he made or present or cause to be presented, for payment or approval, * * * any claim upon or against the Government of the United States,” then it is equally clear that the offender must be a claimant against the United States. If the latter construction be adopted, we are at some loss to understand the purpose of the amendment.

The section, before the amendment, made it an offense to file a false claim knowing it to be false, fictitious, or fraudulent. The crime there charged was established without showing any fraud, trick, or scheme to secure its allowance. The section did not require the allowance of a claim, but merely the presentment of such a claim. The amendment, therefore, if construed as appellant contends for, would not only require the presentment of a false claim, but proof that fraudulent means were adopted to secure its allowance. The amendment was enacted a few years after the passage of the Revenue Act calling for the payment of income taxes, the assessment and collection of which supplied a fertile field for 'the practice of fraud by those who would so evade federal taxes. Such increased opportunity for fraud upon the government might account for the action of Con *615 gress in passing the amendment. At any rate the language of the amendment is comprehensive, and we see no reason for giving it a narrow construction.

The Cohn Case, so much relied upon by the appellant, deals with a fact situation entirely different from the one before us. Doubtless, it must be read as applicable only to the facts there disclosed. However, it is significant that the court in disposing of that ease dealt with the evidence on two hypotheses : (a) That Cohn was a claimant who filed a false claim knowing it to be false and fraudulent, and (b) that he defrauded the government “within the meaning of the statute.” It would have been unnecessary for the court to consider, the second hypothesis if section 80 were limited in its scope to offenders who filed or presented false claims. On this second hypothesis, the language of the court, “ ‘Defrauding' * * * is used in connection with the words ‘cheating or swindling/ indicating that it is to be construed in the manner in which those words are ordinarily used, as relating to the fraudulent causing of

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51 F.2d 609, 76 A.L.R. 1534, 10 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 286, 1931 U.S. App. LEXIS 2940, 2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) 786, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/capone-v-united-states-ca7-1931.