United States v. Rosenbaum

439 F. Supp. 176, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13767
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 28, 1977
DocketCrim. No. 74-514
StatusPublished

This text of 439 F. Supp. 176 (United States v. Rosenbaum) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Rosenbaum, 439 F. Supp. 176, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13767 (E.D. Pa. 1977).

Opinion

OPINION

DITTER, District Judge.

Defendant, Francis N. Rosenbaum, was convicted by a jury of conspiracy, three counts of mail fraud1 and one count of wire fraud.2 He now moves for a new trial, arguing that his right to a fair trial was prejudiced because the jury was permitted to consider evidence of another alleged crime in reaching its verdict. For the reasons hereafter advanced, the motion must be denied.

The factual and procedural history of this case is long and complicated, and a detailed analysis is unnecessary for resolution of defendant’s motion. Suffice it to say that defendants3 were charged in a 23-count indictment with conspiring to participate in a scheme to defraud the Penn Central Transportation Company (Penn Central), its wholly owned subsidiary, American Contract Company (American Contract), and a syndicate of German banks in connection with a loan transaction in September, 1969. Defendants Bevan and Gerstnecker, as former officers of the Penn Central, were also charged with misapplication of funds of a common carrier.4

The evidence adduced at trial, viewed, as it must be, in a light most favorable to the government,5 Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80, 62 S.Ct. 457, 469, 86 L.Ed. 680, reh. denied 315 U.S. 827, 62 S.Ct. 629, 86 L.Ed. 1222 (1942); United States v. McClain, 469 F.2d 68, 69 (3d Cir. 1972), may be briefly stated as follows. In July 1969, Francis N. Rosenbaum made arrangements with officials of the Berliner Bank, West Germany, to secure a $10 million loan, in the form of a conditional sales agreement, for Penn Central to rehabilitate worn-out railroad equipment. Mr. Rosenbaum made such contact in his capacity as a co-broker [178]*178working with R. W. Pressprich & Co., Inc., a New York brokerage firm, in securing loans from European investors. Negotiations continued until September 11,1969, at which time a meeting was held in Mr. Be-van’s office in Philadelphia. At this meeting, attended by all the defendants except Mr. Gotz, Francis Rosenbaum introduced a number of documents structuring the loan transaction. This loan arrangement was unusual in two respects: First, the entire loan amount would be available once it was approved with no restriction on the use of the funds. In a typical conditional sales financing agreement, funds would be made available as the equipment was available for repair; here, only $6 million of equipment was ready to be refurbished but American Contract6 could (and did) secure all $10 million at once. Second, one of the documents signed on behalf of Penn Central authorized the transfer of the loan proceeds to a corporation in Lichtenstein named First Financial Trust (First Financial). Although purportedly a financial institution, First Financial was not even in formal existence at that time, a fact that may not have been known to Penn Central’s officials. In any event, this document instructed First Financial to hold the funds in trust and use them for investment purposes until Penn Central requested their return. The following day, September 12, 1969, Mr. Rosenbaum flew to Germany and finalized the loan arrangement.

Three days later he arrived in Vaduz, Lichtenstein and, with the aid of a local attorney, Franz Pucher, executed a series of documents creating First Financial Trust. He first acquired a Lichtenstein corporation, Finimobeil, and changed its name to First Financial.7 He then executed a series of documents which made him the sole owner of First Financial, made his brother, Joseph Rosenbaum and himself, the sole principals who could instruct Lichtenstein agents on the handling of the corporation, and appointed Dr. Peter Marxer8 and his law partner, Adulf Peter Goop, as the agents who would receive and execute the Rosenbaums’ instructions. Once this was accomplished, Francis Rosenbaum signed a document authorizing the First Financial agents to transfer approximately $4 million to a company called Vileda Anstaldt immediately. After having satisfied Mr. Pucher that this transfer was in accordance with the wishes of American Contract and Penn Central and attesting to the accuracy of the debt, Mr. Rosenbaum signed a letter from Vileda Anstalt agreeing to the transfer. Mr. Goop, in his capacity as agent for First Financial, then signed the letter from American Contract whereby First Financial agreed to receive the $10 million loan proceeds. Mr. Rosenbaum knew that he was without authority from Penn Central in arranging for this transfer to Vileda Anstalt and that Vileda Anstalt was nothing more than one of many shell corporations owned by Fidel Gotz.

On September 18,1969, members of Penn Central’s finance department, but not Mr. Bevan or Mr. Gerstnecker, requested the Chemical Bank, Penn Central’s New York bank, to transfer the loan funds to First Financial, although Penn Central or American Contract had yet to receive any indication that First Financial was agreeable to this business arrangement. This notification was not forthcoming until September 22, 1969, the same day First Financial received the money and transferred $4 million [179]*179to Vileda Anstalt. On October 23,1969, the remaining balance was received by Penn Central.

By the spring of 1970, members of Penn Central’s finance department became concerned over the status of the missing $4 million. Until that time, no additional drawdown of the funds had been requested. This matter finally came to a head in July, 1970, approximately one week after Penn Central filed for bankruptcy. At that time, an official from the Berliner Bank contacted Penn Central officials seeking the additional $4 million in loan collateral. Subsequent investigation by counsel for the Penn Central trustees, Edwin P. Rome, Esq., led him to Fidel Gotz. Gotz admitted to having secured the $4 million through Vileda Anstalt but refused to return it, claiming that Penn Central owed him the sum in reimbursement for funds he had expended on the railroad’s behalf in investing in certain European airlines. This money has yet to be recovered.

At the close of the government’s case, I granted motions for judgment of acquittal filed by Bevan and Gerstnecker. Thereafter, the jury found Francis Rosenbaum guilty on five counts. His brother, Joseph, was acquitted on all seven counts.9

I.

Mr. Rosenbaum first argues that his right to a fair trial was prejudiced because, although Count II, the charge of misapplication, was dismissed when the motions of defendants Bevan and Gerstnecker for judgment of acquittal were granted, the jury was permitted to consider evidence relating to misapplication in reaching its verdict on the conspiracy count. He lays great stress on the fact that the government’s evidence tended to prove the crime of misapplication as well as the crimes of mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy. I find this argument to be without merit for at least three reasons.

First, and foremost, defendant has cited no authority for his rather novel proposition that certain evidence can not be used to establish two distinct criminal violations.

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Related

Glasser v. United States
315 U.S. 60 (Supreme Court, 1942)
United States v. Jerry Morris Cohen
516 F.2d 1358 (Eighth Circuit, 1975)
United States v. Ragen
315 U.S. 826 (Supreme Court, 1942)

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Bluebook (online)
439 F. Supp. 176, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13767, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-rosenbaum-paed-1977.