In Re Amjad I. Eashai, Debtor. Citibank (South Dakota), N.A. v. Amjad I. Eashai

87 F.3d 1082, 96 Daily Journal DAR 7976, 36 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 343, 96 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 4948, 1996 U.S. App. LEXIS 15769, 29 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 409, 1996 WL 363614
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedJuly 2, 1996
Docket94-55749
StatusPublished
Cited by257 cases

This text of 87 F.3d 1082 (In Re Amjad I. Eashai, Debtor. Citibank (South Dakota), N.A. v. Amjad I. Eashai) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Amjad I. Eashai, Debtor. Citibank (South Dakota), N.A. v. Amjad I. Eashai, 87 F.3d 1082, 96 Daily Journal DAR 7976, 36 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 343, 96 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 4948, 1996 U.S. App. LEXIS 15769, 29 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 409, 1996 WL 363614 (9th Cir. 1996).

Opinions

FERGUSON, Circuit Judge:

Amjad Eashai, a Chapter 7 debtor, appeals the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel’s decision 1 which affirmed the bankruptcy court’s judgment in favor of Citibank (South Dakota), N.A. The bankruptcy court found that Eashai’s $22,567.79 in credit card debt owed to Citibank was nondischargeable under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A) because of fraud. On appeal, Eashai claims that the bankruptcy court erred by not requiring Citibank to establish “reliance” as an element of fraud in determining that the debt was non-disehargeable.2 We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 158(d). We AFFIRM.

I. BACKGROUND

This is not a typical credit card fraud case. This is a case in which a debtor employed a fraudulent scheme of credit card kiting. Am-jad Eashai, the debtor, obtained many personal credit cards while he was employed as a car lease consultant for a bank. In that position, he earned approximately $24,000 a year. In April of 1990, he injured his back and became unemployed. He has not worked steadily since his injury. After the injury, his income was $1,200 per month from disability compensation. At that time his monthly expenses amounted to $3,300, which created a monthly deficit of $2,100.

While Eashai was unemployed, he had twenty-six credit cards. The minimum monthly payments on these cards totalled approximately $2,000. Eashai engaged in a credit card kiting scheme utilizing the credit available to him on his various credit cards to pay for his living expenses and to make the minimum payments on his other credit card accounts, including his Citibank account that is the subject of this litigation.

Citibank issued Eashai a credit card in 1988. From July 1989 to April 1990, Eash-ai’s Citibank card remained at a zero balance except for one charge that was paid in full. However, once Eashai became unemployed in April 1990, he began using his Citibank card. By that time, Eashai’s credit limit was $20,000. Over the course of the next year and through April 1991, Eashai made all of the required minimum monthly payments on the credit card. By May 1991, Eashai reached both his cash advance limit and his credit limit for purchases on his Citibank account. Eashai then stopped making payments on the account.

In October 1991, when Eashai filed his Chapter 7 petition, his credit limit on his Citibank card was $20,000 and his balance, including finance payments, was $22,567.79. At trial Eashai admitted that he was in debt [1086]*1086for approximately $100,000 on his various credit cards. However, Eashai’s schedules filed with the bankruptcy court listed $141,-000 in unsecured debt, primarily from credit cards. Citibank established at trial that Eashai took out cash advances on his Citibank card to maintain current minimum monthly payments on his other credit cards. Eashai also paid for his living expenses with cash advances from his Citibank card. Additionally, he financed a trip to visit his family in Pakistan and a $1,000 gambling spree in Las Vegas on his Citibank card. Finally, Eashai used his Citibank card to invest $10,-000 in gold bars, which he later sold at a loss for $6,500.

On October 18, 1991, Eashai filed his voluntary petition under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. Citibank filed a complaint in the bankruptcy court on January 21, 1992, seeking a determination that Eashai’s debt to Citibank was nondischargeable. After a bench trial, the bankruptcy court found the credit card debt to be nondis-chargeable under 11 U.S.C. 523(a)(2)(A) and entered, a judgment for Citibank in the amount of $22,567.79.

Eashai appealed the bankruptcy court’s decision to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit. The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel heard oral argument on the matter and rendered a published opinion affirming the district court. See In re Eashai, 167 B.R. 181 (9th Cir. BAP 1994). Eashai brings this timely appeal.

Eashai challenges the legal standard applied by the bankruptcy court in its determination that Eashai’s debt to Citibank was nondischargeable because of actual fraud. Eashai contends that a creditor must show reliance as an element of actual fraud for a credit card debt to be excepted from discharge. This is a question of first impression in the Ninth Circuit.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

Decisions of the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel are reviewed de novo. Steelcase Inc. v. Johnston (In re Johnston), 21 F.3d 323, 326 (9th Cir.1994). This court independently reviews the bankruptcy court’s rulings on appeal from the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. The bankruptcy court’s conclusions of law are reviewed de novo, while its factual findings are reviewed for clear error. Id.

B. The Basics Under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A)

In bankruptcy some debts are nondis-chargeable. Section 523 of the Bankruptcy Code provides in relevant part:

(a) A discharge under section 727, 1141, or 1328(b) of this title does not discharge an individual debtor from any debt—
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(2)for money, property, services, or an extension, renewal, or refinancing of credit, to the extent obtained, by—
(A) false pretenses, a false representation, or actual fraud, other than a statement respecting the debtor’s or an insider’s financial condition.

11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A) (emphasis added). This exception to discharge furthers the policy that an honest but unfortunate debtor obtains a fresh start while a dishonest debtor does not benefit from his wrongdoing. Grogan v. Garner, 498 U.S. 279, 286-87, 111 S.Ct. 654, 659-60, 112 L.Ed.2d 755 (1991).

In the Ninth Circuit, to prove actual fraud, a creditor must establish each of the following elements:

(1) [that] the debtor made the representations;
(2) that at the time he knew they were false;
(3) that he made them with the intention and purpose of deceiving the creditor;
(4) that the creditor relied on such representations; [and]
(5) that the creditor sustained the alleged loss and damage as the proximate result of the representations having been made.

Britton v. Price (In re Britton), 950 F.2d 602, 604 (9th Cir.1991); Eugene Parks Law Corp. Defined Benefit Pension Plan v. Kirsh (In re Kirsh),

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87 F.3d 1082, 96 Daily Journal DAR 7976, 36 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 343, 96 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 4948, 1996 U.S. App. LEXIS 15769, 29 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 409, 1996 WL 363614, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-amjad-i-eashai-debtor-citibank-south-dakota-na-v-amjad-i-ca9-1996.