Robers v. United States
Issues
When a court orders restitution after a fraud conviction, is the restitution amount based on the value returned to the lender when it takes title of the property at foreclosure; or is the amount due based on how much the lender receives when the property is sold later?
Benjamin Robers pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role as a straw man in a mortgage fraud scheme. Under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act of 1996, Robers was ordered to pay restitution to the lenders he defrauded. The amount owed was determined based on the amount the lenders lost minus the amount they received when the homes were resold. Robers argues that the statute offsets damages based on the remaining value due after the lenders received part of the property they lost, which he argues is when the lenders took title to the foreclosed homes. The government counters that the property lost, for which restitution is owed, is the cash the lenders lost because of Robers’s fraudulent actions. Thus, restitution should be determined based on the amount of cash the lender recovers after selling the home. The Supreme Court’s resolution of this case will settle whether the property is returned and restitution set when the lender takes over the title at foreclosure or when the lender receives cash at resale. This case will address the consequences for criminals convicted of fraud who are required to pay restitution and the amount they are responsible for paying.
Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties
- Whether a defendant—who has fraudulently obtained a loan and thus owes restitution for the loan under 18 U.S.C. § 3663A(b)(1)(B)—returns “any part” of the loan money by giving the lenders the collateral that secures the money?
- Whether the district court correctly calculated a restitution award for victims who lost money because of the defendant’s loan fraud when the court reduced the victims’ losses by the amount of money they recouped from the sale of the collateral securing the loans.
Facts
Benjamin Robers pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud under 18 U.S.C § 371. See United States v.
Edited by
- Sean T. Carnathan, Circuits Split on Valuing Offset Against Criminal Restitution, American Bar Association Litigation News, (Nov. 19, 2012).
- T. Dietrich Hall, The Arithmetic of Justice: Calculating Restitution for Mortgage Fraud, Columbia Law Review, (Nov. 2013).