Updated CTM Chapter on Tax Related Conspiracies (9/17/20)

DOJ Tax has updated its Criminal Tax Manual (“CTM”) chapter 23.00 titled Conspiracy to Commit Offense or to Defraud the United States (Revised September 2020), here.  I have reviewed the chapter very cursorily.  Although I did not compare the old and new versions, except in two instances noted below, I don’t think much has changed except to add some recent cases in chain citations or in examples.  In identifying items of interest, I leaved through the whole chapter (60 pages) and did searched for year from 2012 through 2010.  Here are my quick comments.:

1. 23.04[2][a] Limitation on Naming Unindicted Co-conspirators, p. 5.  Prosecutors should not name in the indictment unindicted co-conspirators, citing Justice Manual 9-11.30 (April 2018). “The recommended practice in such cases is to merely allege that the defendant ‘conspired with another  person or persons known’ and supply the identity, if requested, in a bill of particulars.”

2. 23.07[2][c] Overbreadth Concerns, pp. 42-43. Not sure if this is new but it is a subject I have been interested in).  Discusses the interpretation of the defraud clause which, in United States v. Coplan, 703 F.3d 46, (2d Cir. 2012), cert. denied 571 U.S. 819 (2013), the Second Circuit expressed “skepticism” about the correctness as an original matter of the Supreme Court’s statutory interpretation of the defraud clause in Haas v. Henkel, 216 U.S. 462 (1910), and Hammerschmidt v. United States, 265 U.S. 182, 188 (1924).  I discussed that aspect of Coplan in Coplan #1 - Panel Questions Validity of Klein Conspiracy (Federal Tax Crimes Blog12/1/12), here.

3. 23.07[2][d] Precedent Governing Different Statutes, pp. 43-44.  This is new, generated by the holding in Marinello v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 1101 (2018)  that tax obstruction, § 7212(a), requires knowledge of a pending proceeding.  Some defendants argued that, because of potential overlapping and overbreadth concerns, Marinello’s pending proceeding required should apply to the defraud / Klein conspiracy.  The position of the Government is that that element of § 7212(a) does not apply to defraud / Klein conspiracies.  The Government’s position has been sustained in the cases.  The section discusses two 2020 cases:  United States v. Atilla, 966 F. 3d 118 (2d Cir. 2020); and Marinello v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 1101 (2018).  I discussed the Flynn case Eighth Circuit Holds that Marinello Pending Proceeding Nexus in § 7212(a) Does Not Apply to Defraud / Klein Conspiracy (Federal Tax Crimes Blog 8/17/20), here.