17-3514 (L) United States v. Jabar 1 In the 2 United States Court of Appeals 3 For the Second Circuit 4 ________ 5 6 AUGUST TERM 2020 7 8 ARGUED: OCTOBER 14, 2020 9 DECIDED: NOVEMBER 19, 2021 10 11 Nos. 17-3514-cr (Lead), 18-1233-cr (XAP), 18-1857-cr (XAP) 12 13 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 14 Appellant-Cross-Appellee, 15 16 v. 17 18 STEVE S. JABAR, aka Steve Shariff, aka Satar Jabar, aka Kamal Jabar, 19 aka Kamal Jamel, DEBORAH BOWERS, 20 Defendants-Appellees-Cross-Appellants. 21 ________ 22 23 On Appeal from the United States District Court 24 for the Western District of New York. 25 ________ 26 27 Before: WALKER, SACK, * and MENASHI, Circuit Judges. ________ * Circuit Judge Ralph K. Winter, originally a member of this panel, died on December 8, 2020. Circuit Judge Robert D. Sack replaced Judge Winter on the panel for this appeal. See 2d Cir. IOP E(b). 2 17-3514 (L) The United States appeals from a post-verdict judgment of acquittal entered by the District Court for the Western District of New York (Lawrence J. Vilardo, J.) with respect to the convictions of defendants Steve S. Jabar and Deborah Bowers for wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. The government argues that a reasonable jury could infer that the defendants had an intent to defraud the United Nations when they diverted for personal use more than $65,000 of grant money awarded to their non-profit organization. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, we conclude that there was sufficient evidence for the jury to convict on the wire fraud and related counts. Because the district court did not reach defendants’ motion for a new trial on these counts, we remand for it to consider the motion in the first instance. Jabar and Bowers also cross-appeal the district court’s order denying their motions for a judgment of acquittal or a new trial on their convictions for making false statements, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, we conclude that there was sufficient evidence for the jury to convict defendants for their false statements. We discern no errors with respect to the false statement convictions that would require a new trial. Accordingly, we REVERSE the district court’s judgment of acquittal on the wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy counts; AFFIRM the district court’s denial of a judgment of acquittal and a 3 17-3514 (L) new trial on the false statement counts; and REMAND with directions for the entry of judgment consistent with the foregoing and for consideration of the motion for a new trial on the wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy counts. ________ Tiffany H. Lee, Assistant United States Attorney, for James P. Kennedy, Jr., United States Attorney for the Western District of New York, for Appellant- Cross-Appellee. Jamesa J. Drake, Drake Law, LLC, for Defendant- Appellee-Cross-Appellant Steve S. Jabar. Mark …
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