United States v. Hanson

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 22, 1999
Docket97-60785
StatusPublished

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

Bluebook
United States v. Hanson, (5th Cir. 1999).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

______________________________________

No. 97-60785 ______________________________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

versus

HUGH KIRKWOOD HANSON, Defendant-Appellee. _____________________________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi _____________________________________________ November 25, 1998 Before SMITH, DUHÉ, and WIENER, Circuit Judges.

Wiener, Circuit Judge.

Defendant-Appellee Hugh Kirkwood Hanson was convicted by a jury of bank fraud,1

misapplication of bank funds,2 and making a false bank records entry.3 The district court granted

Hanson's post-verdict motion of acquittal. Based on a review of the record and the applicable

law, we reverse the district court, reinstating the jury verdict against Hanson on all three counts

and remanding for sentencing.

1 18 U.S.C. § 1344(1). 2 18 U.S.C. § 656. 3 18 U.S.C. § 1005. I.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

We set forth the facts in the light most favorable to the verdict.4 In 1994, Hanson moved

to Gulfport, Mississippi to become president of the Gulfport branch of the Sunburst Bank (now

known as Union Planters Bank of South Mississippi) (“the Bank”). As branch president, Hanson

was in charge of all bank account and lending operations of the Bank. Soon after his move to

Gulfport, Hanson became interested in building a house on a particular lot located in the

Greenview section of the city. The lot was owned by Paul Ellis, a local businessman and a

customer of the Bank (“Greenview Property”).

Ellis initially planned to build a “spec house”5 on the lot, but changed his mind when he

was approached by Hanson about building his own house on the lot instead. Ellis agreed to

permit Hanson to arrange for construction of a custom-built house on the Greenview Property,

with the necessary financing to be obtained through the Bank in Ellis’s name, and on the

understanding that Hanson would occupy the house at completion, subject to his obtaining

permanent financing. Under this arrangement, Hanson would not pay Ellis anything for the cost

of building the house; instead, Hanson’s financing would replace the construction loan in Ellis’s

name, the proceeds of which would have been used to pay the costs of constructing Hanson’s

house.

4 See United States v. Schintzer, 145 F.3d 721, 724 (5th Cir. 1998) (reciting facts as most favorable to guilty verdicts after district court’s post-verdict grant of acquittal). 5 A “spec house” is one built by a home-builder on land he owns, in anticipation of selling the improved property on the open market. A “custom-built house” is one built according to agreed- upon plans and specifications, pursuant to a construction contract between a prime contractor and a landowner.

2 As branch president, Hanson supervised construction lending to local contractors,

including a local home-builder, Turner-Wallace. In addition to obtaining construction financing

routinely from the Bank, Turner-Wallace maintained an ordinary commercial checking account at

the Bank. After reaching his agreement with Ellis, Hanson entered an oral contract with Turner-

Wallace to construct a custom-built house on the Greenview Property. Hanson selected the

design and supplied Turner-Wallace with the plans for the house. After construction began,

Hanson supervised the project, selecting the interior finishes and visiting the site regularly. Ellis,

by contrast, had virtually no involvement with the project and had no direct contact with Turner-

Wallace once construction commenced.

In December 1994, Hanson approved a $133,600 loan —— in Ellis’s name —— for

construction of Hanson’s house on the Greenview Property. The credit proposal made no

mention of Hanson’s involvement in the project or interest in the house.

Some time after construction began, Hanson modified his house plans to include an

additional 500 square feet. Because Hanson’s authority alone was not sufficient to approve the

larger loan ($151,200) required for the expanded project, the credit proposal was forwarded to a

more senior Bank official for his approval as well. Once again, the credit proposal, which Hanson

prepared, did not reflect his interest or involvement. On the contrary, it stated that “Mr. Ellis

added 500 additional square footage.”

On the same day that Hanson signed the credit renewal proposal in Ellis’s name, Hanson

and Ellis signed a quitclaim deed transferring the property from Ellis to Hanson; however, the

deed was not filed in the public records until more than four months after it was signed by Hanson

and Ellis.

3 Although some of Hanson’s subordinates at the branch were aware that he was

constructing a house, no bank officials outside the branch were aware of Hanson’s involvement in

the house project for which he served as loan officer. Moreover, when a secretary in the Gulfport

branch confronted Hanson about the loan arrangement, he became angry and questioned her

loyalty to him. Shortly thereafter, she was transferred to another branch. At trial, bank officials

testified that, because of the potential conflict in such a situation, the Bank would have never

allowed Hanson to participate in the approval and supervision of the construction loan had his

interest been revealed.

For construction loans, rather than turning over the entire proceeds of the loan to the

builder at once, the Bank typically releases only a portion of the proceeds at a time —— a “draw”

—— triggered by the builder’s completion of a specified portion of the construction project.

Interest begins to accrue only when a draw is made and then only for the portion of the loan

proceeds that is released. In supervising the subject construction loan, Hanson personally

controlled the timing of the draws. Contrary to customary practice, though, Hanson did not rely

on an outside appraiser or other Bank personnel to make periodic inspections to determine when

draws should be made on his house.

Turner-Wallace became concerned about Hanson’s delays in making such draws and

remitting them to the contractor. When Ann Wallace of Turner-Wallace voiced her concerns to

Hanson about these delays, he told her that he was intentionally delaying to save interest on the

loan. As a result of Hanson’s delays, the Turner-Wallace commercial account became seriously

overdrawn.

Despite the overdrawn status of the account, Hanson told Turner-Wallace to continue to

4 pay bills for the Greenview Project, assuring the contractor that the Bank would cover the checks.

Although Turner-Wallace’s account had no overdraft protection, over a period of several months,

Hanson instructed Bank personnel to “force-pay” the checks, including several that Hanson had

endorsed and that were payable to “cash” to reimburse him for his house expenses.6 Eventually,

the overdrafts exceeded the amount that the Bank had agreed to lend to Turner-Wallace, resulting

in a deficiency of more than $24,000.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. McDow
27 F.3d 132 (Fifth Circuit, 1994)
United States v. Mulderig
120 F.3d 534 (Fifth Circuit, 1997)
United States v. Millet
123 F.3d 268 (Fifth Circuit, 1997)
United States v. Albert B. Bowman
783 F.2d 1192 (Fifth Circuit, 1986)
United States v. James L. Kington and Don Earney
875 F.2d 1091 (Fifth Circuit, 1989)
United States v. Douglas Cordell
912 F.2d 769 (Fifth Circuit, 1990)
United States v. Andrew v. Restivo, II
8 F.3d 274 (Fifth Circuit, 1993)
United States v. George Aubin
87 F.3d 141 (Fifth Circuit, 1996)
United States v. Salvatore
110 F.3d 1131 (Fifth Circuit, 1997)
United States v. Clarence Ray Mikolajczyk
137 F.3d 237 (Fifth Circuit, 1998)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
United States v. Hanson, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-hanson-ca5-1999.