U.S. v. Wiles

• Decision Date: 10 December 1996
• Docket Number: Nos. 94-1592,95-1022,s. 94-1592
• Parties: , Fed. Sec. L. Rep. P 99,361, 46 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 151, 96 CJ C.A.R. 2012 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Quentin T. WILES, Defendant-Appellant. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Patrick J. SCHLEIBAUM, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

Page 1043

102 F.3d 1043

65 USLW 2425, Fed. Sec. L. Rep. P 99,361,

46 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 151, 96 CJ C.A.R. 2012

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Quentin T. WILES, Defendant-Appellant.

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Patrick J. SCHLEIBAUM, Defendant-Appellant.

Nos. 94-1592, 95-1022.

United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit.

Dec. 10, 1996.

Vincent J. Oliva, Assistant United States Attorney (Henry L. Solano, United States Attorney and John M. Hutchins, Assistant United States Attorney, with him on the briefs), Denver, CO, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Daniel J. Sears of Daniel J. Sears, P.C., Denver, CO (panel argument), and Michael R. Doyen of Munger, Tolles & Olson, Los Angeles, CA (en banc argument), (Daniel T. Smith, Denver, CO; Cary B. Lerman of Munger, Tolles & Olson, Los Angeles, CA; and H. Alan Dill and Robert A. Dill of Dill, Dill, Carr & Stonbraker, Denver, CO, with them on the briefs), for Defendant-Appellant Quentin T. Wiles.

Thomas D. Birge of Brega & Winters, P.C., Denver, CO, for Defendant-Appellant Patrick J. Schleibaum.

Before SEYMOUR, Chief Judge, and PORFILIO, ANDERSON, TACHA, BALDOCK, BRORBY, EBEL, KELLY, HENRY, BRISCOE, LUCERO, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges, as to Part II.A. ^*

Before BALDOCK, SETH, and BRORBY, Circuit Judges, as to Parts I. & II.B-F. ^**

BALDOCK, Circuit Judge.

Miniscribe was a Colorado-based manufacturer of computer hard disk drives. These criminal appeals arise from its management's fraudulent cover-up of a multimillion dollar inventory overstatement between December 1986 and January 1989, which falsely inflated Miniscribe's profits and accelerated its descent into bankruptcy.

Defendant Patrick J. Schleibaum is the former chief financial officer and vice president of Miniscribe. Schleibaum was charged in a two-count criminal indictment with making false statements to the government in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001, and securities fraud in violation of 15 U.S.C. §§ 78j(b), 78ff(a) and 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5. Schleibaum's trial commenced in June 1994. The government called twenty-nine witnesses over the course of seven days for its case-in-chief. Schleibaum's defense consisted of his testimony and that of Miniscribe's former director of far east operations. The jury convicted Schleibaum on both counts. The district court fined Schleibaum $6,000 and sentenced him to twenty-four months imprisonment on each count to run concurrently.

Defendant Quentin T. Wiles is the former chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Miniscribe. Wiles was charged in a three-count criminal indictment with making false statements to the government in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001, securities fraud in violation of 15 U.S.C. §§ 78j(b), 78ff(a) and 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5, and wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343. Wiles' trial commenced in July 1994. The government called thirty-four witnesses over the course of eleven days for its case-in-chief. Wiles' defense consisted of twelve witnesses, including himself, over the course of two and one-half days. The jury convicted Wiles on all three counts. The district court fined Wiles $60,000 and sentenced him to thirty-six months imprisonment on each count to run concurrently.

Both Defendants appeal their convictions urging numerous grounds for reversal. Because both cases arise from the same fraudulent cover-up and present overlapping factual and legal issues, we have consolidated our disposition of these appeals. Our jurisdiction arises under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We affirm in part and vacate in part.

I.

Miniscribe began operations in 1981 in Longmont, Colorado. Miniscribe was then a privately owned company manufacturing computer disk drives in the basement of its founder, Terry Johnson. Miniscribe went public in 1983, but soon grew beyond its capacity. In 1985, a venture capital group, Hambrecht & Quist, invested $20,000,000 in Miniscribe and gained control of its management. By 1986, Miniscribe was an overtly profitable, publicly-owned corporation with operations in Colorado, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Miniscribe, whose common stock was traded on the NASDAQ, was subject to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as well as the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Following its change in management, chairman of the board and chief executive officer Quentin T. Wiles headed Miniscribe from his office in Sherman Oaks, California. Wiles had a reputation as a successful, demanding executive who expected performance. Salaries and bonuses at Miniscribe often depended upon Miniscribe "making the numbers."

Assisting Wiles was a management team consisting largely of certified public accountants. Patrick J. Schleibaum initially served as Miniscribe's chief financial officer. Wiles' management team also included president, chief operating officer and board member Gerald Goodman, executive vice president Jesse C. Parker, director of far east operations Paul Lyons, division managers Owen P. Taranta and Warren Perry, and operations controllers Kenneth A. Huff and Steven Wolfe. William P. Lorea later joined Miniscribe as chief financial officer when, in the midst of trouble, Wiles moved Schleibaum to vice president. Wiles was in constant contact with his management team through phone calls and faxes, as many as fifteen of each, every business day.

A.

Despite reported growth and profitability, Miniscribe's financial position began to deteriorate early in 1987. In January 1987, Miniscribe conducted its annual inventory count to determine the value of inventory on hand. The accuracy of the inventory count was critical to the proper preparation of Miniscribe's 1986 year end financial statements.

Management retained the independent accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand to audit Miniscribe and verify the accuracy of its inventory count. The standard procedure for verifying a company's inventory count is through a test count--an inventory sampling deemed representative of the entire inventory. Problems arose when, unbeknownst to the auditors, management detected an inventory hole of between $2,000,000 and $4,000,000.

The inventory hole appeared because the actual inventory count, and thus dollar value of the inventory, was less than the value of the inventory recorded on Miniscribe's books. When the value of book inventory is overstated, the cost of goods sold is correspondingly understated. The understated cost of goods sold is then subtracted from net sales resulting in inflated profits equal to the amount of the inventory hole or overstatement.

Huff, Perry, and Wolfe discussed the problem with Schleibaum. At this point, Wiles was unaware of the inventory hole. Schleibaum properly decided to charge a portion of the hole against an emergency fund known as inventory reserves. The remainder of the hole also should have been charged off or expensed as a cost of goods sold with a corresponding reduction in profits. But when Perry suggested this approach, Schleibaum balked. Instead, Schleibaum directed his subordinates to conceal the remainder of the inventory hole through improper means so that Miniscribe could continue to "make the numbers." ¹

With Schleibaum's knowledge and approval, Wolfe and Perry decided to cover the inventory hole by falsely inflating the inventory count. To hide the false count from the auditors, Wolfe and Perry broke into the auditors' work trunks at Miniscribe after business hours and altered the test count to match the inflated inventory count. The inflated numbers were then entered into Miniscribe's computer system and reflected as additional inventory. Schleibaum signed a management representation letter to the auditors indicating Miniscribe's financial statements were accurate, including its inventory valuation. Miniscribe cleared the 1986 audit.

Miniscribe reported the false profits resulting from concealment of the inventory hole on its 1986 income statement and 1987 first quarter earnings statement. Miniscribe disseminated this information to the public through its 1986 annual report and 1987 first quarter financial report. Schleibaum signed the 1986 10-K report and 1987 first quarter 10-Q report which contained Miniscribe's false financial statements. Miniscribe filed the 10-K and 10-Q reports with the SEC as required by law. Miniscribe's reported success allowed the company to raise funds through a $97,000,000 issue of debentures early in 1987.

B.

In the spring 1987, Wiles became concerned about Miniscribe's internal controls and financial strength. At management's quarterly meeting in July 1987, Parker expressed concern to Wiles about inventory control in Miniscribe's far east operations. In August 1987, Wiles traveled to the far east to review Miniscribe's operations in Hong Kong and Singapore. Wiles found a complete loss of inventory control in Miniscribe's Singapore facility. Wiles largely blamed Schleibaum for the loss of inventory control. Upon his return, Wiles moved Schleibaum to vice president and made Taranta acting chief financial officer.

Wiles believed that if an inventory problem actually existed, Miniscribe and its officers might be liable to those investors purchasing the recently issued debentures on the company's reported financial strength. At Wiles' direction, Taranta and Huff researched the inventory problem. In the fall of 1987, Taranta and Huff detected a $15,000,000 inventory hole at Miniscribe, the largest portion of which was located in the company's Colorado operation. At this point, Miniscribe's financial statements for 1986 and the first two quarters of 1987 should have been restated to reflect a write off of the inventory hole and consequent reduction in profits. Instead, on October 12, 1987, Miniscribe filed a third quarter 10-Q report with the SEC which failed to account for the problem.

On October 14, 1987, Miniscribe's management team met at Wiles' office in Sherman Oaks, California. Those present included Wiles,...