Nijhawan v. Holder
Issues
Whether the petitioner's conviction for fraud where he stipulated that his fraud caused a loss of more than $100 million but where the jury did not find the amount of the loss for which the petitioner was individually responsible qualifies as an aggravated felony under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(M)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Manoj Nijhawan was convicted of conspiracy to commit bank, mail, and wire fraud, and for conspiracy to commit money laundering. Upon his conviction, Immigration Court proceedings were brought against him and he was found to be subject to deportation under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(M)(i) ("Subsection (M)(i)"). Subsection (M)(i) provides that an "aggravated felony," for purposes of deportation, includes a conviction for "an offense that (i) involves fraud or deceit in which the loss to the victim exceeds $10,000." On appeal, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that the loss determination used for sentencing was sufficient to meet the loss requirement under Subsection (M)(i), even though it was not a necessary element of his conviction. Nijhawan challenges this ruling arguing that both the "fraud or deceit" and "loss" elements must be found by a jury in order for Subsection (M)(i) to apply. Accordingly, he argues that he cannot be deported because the elements of the criminal statute under which he was convicted do not match those required for deportation under Subsection (M)(i). The United States argues that the loss element follows a "qualifier" and therefore need not be an element of the conviction for Subsection (M)(i) to apply.
Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties
Whether petitioner's conviction for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud qualifies as a conviction for conspiracy to commit an ‘offense that involves fraud or deceit in which the loss to the victim or victims exceeds $10,000,' 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(M)(i) and (U), where petitioner stipulated for sentencing purposes that the victim loss associated with his fraud offense exceeded $100 million, and the judgment of conviction and restitution order calculated total victim loss as more than $680 million.
Manoj Nijhawan, an Indian citizen, lawfully entered the United States in July, 1985 and became a permanent resident. See Nijhawan v. Att'y Gen. of the U.S., 523 F.3d 387 (3d Cir. 2008); On the Docket: Supreme Court News: Nijhawan v.