United States v. Bagdasian

Citation291 F.2d 163
Decision Date29 May 1961
Docket NumberNo. 8255.,8255.
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Adam BAGDASIAN, Appellant.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit)

James B. Murphy and Solomon B. Levin, Baltimore, Md., for appellant.

Robert E. Cahill, Asst. U. S. Atty., Baltimore, Md. (Joseph D. Tydings, U. S. Atty., Baltimore, Md., on brief), for appellee.

Before SOBELOFF, Chief Judge, and HAYNSWORTH and BOREMAN, Circuit Judges.

SOBELOFF, Chief Judge.

This appeal by Adam Bagdasian reveals a picaresque story of a fraud effectively perpetrated upon one who was willing to join in a scheme to defraud another. The defrauder, who is the appellant here, was tried without a jury and convicted on seven of the thirteen counts of an indictment charging him with devising a scheme to defraud and using interstate telephone and telegraph facilities for the purpose of executing such scheme, in violation of Title 18 U.S. C.A. § 1343.1 The sentence was imprisonment for one year on each count, the terms of imprisonment to run concurrently.

There was testimony tending to show that Bagdasian separately approached E. R. Culpepper of Norfolk, Virginia, and John Allen of Newport News, Virginia, and falsely represented to each that his name was George Simon, that he was employed as manager by a bookmaker, and was in a position to cheat his employer by changing office records after races had been run, so as to make it appear that bets had been placed on winning horses. He told Culpepper and Allen that if they phoned in their bets to a certain telephone number in Tacoma Park, Maryland, which he supplied them, he, Bagdasian, could and would arrange to place their bets on horses that had already won. The plan he proposed called for equal division of the spoils between himself and the bettor.

Culpepper was completely taken in. Initially, he was induced by Bagdasian to wire $1,500 from Norfolk to the Western Union Company office in Annapolis, Maryland, to be picked up by Bagdasian in the name of Larry Ford. Bagdasian later influenced Culpepper to wire additional sums to "Larry Ford" in care of the same Western Union office. Culpepper was persuaded to advance these additional monies by Bagdasian's representations that Culpepper had won various sums aggregating over a short period $26,000, but that for one reason or another it was necessary for Culpepper to advance more money before he could get his winnings. It was shown that Bagdasian, identifying himself as Larry Ford, personally collected from Western Union the monies so transmitted. Altogether, as a result of the various transactions, Culpepper was cheated out of $8,500 instead of sharing in the expected looting of Bagdasian's supposed bookmaker employer, who has never been found to exist.

Allen, on the other hand, testified that he never accepted the proposal to defraud Bagdasian's employer, but that he did place bets with the defendant, thinking that he was employed by a bookmaker. He was not required to put up betting money in advance, since Bagdasian told him, with simulated graciousness, that he had satisfied himself of Allen's financial responsibility. Apparently Allen had some independent knowledge or advice about racing, or was fortunate, and did phone in bets on horses that turned out to be actual winners. Then he was told by Bagdasian that he had won, but that it would now be necessary for him to put up a deposit of $5,000 before he could collect his winnings. More wary than Culpepper, Allen put up no money and was content to forego the reported winnings.

On this appeal Bagdasian asserts (1) that the indictment does not properly charge the offense; (2) that there was a fatal variance between indictment and proof; and (3) that the evidence is not legally sufficient to support the verdict.

As to the indictment, it was pointed out preliminarily that it does not allege that the defendant converted the money to his own use; but the short answer is that this is not an essential part of the crime of devising a fraudulent scheme and using interstate wire facilities for the purpose of executing such scheme.

The principal fault found with the indictment by the appellant is that after reciting the representations made by the defendant to his intended victims, and averring that they were false and known by the defendant to be false, the indictment fails to show "why the representations alleged to be false were false in fact." Appellant's counsel explained that by "why," as here used, he means wherein, or in what respect. The point attempted to be made is that the indictment should have continued with a recital of the opposite of the representations, such as that the defendant was in fact not employed by the bookmaker, that he was not in a position to change losing bets into winners after the race had been run, etc. We do not perceive how in this case such a form of traverse would have been more enlightening than the...

To continue reading

Request your trial
19 cases
  • United States v. Culver
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Maryland
    • October 3, 1963
    ...3, Indictment for Mail Fraud", in the Appendix of Forms attached to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. United States v. Bagdasian, 4 Cir., 291 F.2d 163, 164, 165 (1961), cert. den. 368 U.S. 834, 82 S.Ct. 60, 7 L.Ed.2d 36 (1961); United States v. Suchman, D.Md., 206 F.Supp. 688, 689, 6......
  • U.S. v. Seidlitz
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit
    • December 5, 1978
    ...States v. Painter, 314 F.2d 939 (4 Cir. 1963), Cert. denied, 374 U.S. 831, 83 S.Ct. 1873, 10 L.Ed.2d 1054 (1963); United States v. Bagdasian, 291 F.2d 163 (4 Cir. 1961), Cert. denied, 368 U.S. 834, 82 S.Ct. 60, 7 L.Ed.2d 36 (1961), and the circumstantial evidence in this case is ample to su......
  • U.S. v. Irwin
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit
    • August 17, 1981
    ...788; Clark v. United States, 400 F.2d 83, 85 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 1036, 89 S.Ct. 654, 21 L.Ed.2d 581; United States v. Bagdasian, 291 F.2d 163, 165 (4th Cir.) cert. denied, 368 U.S. 834, 82 S.Ct. 60, 7 L.Ed.2d 36; Martin v. United States, 285 F.2d 150, 151 (10th Cir.), cert. d......
  • United States v. Luros
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa
    • June 29, 1965
    ...U.S. 374, 74 S.Ct. 113, 98 L.Ed. 92 (1953); Stapleton v. United States, 260 F.2d 415, 17 Alaska 713 (5th Cir. 1958); United States v. Bagdasian, 291 F.2d 163 (4th Cir. 1961). This indictment satisfies each of these requirements. An indictment that charges an offense in the words of the stat......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT