United States v. Ezenwa ( 2023 )

Case: 21-20609 Document: 00516723405 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/24/2023
United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit
____________
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
No. 21-20609 FILED
Summary Calendar April 24, 2023
____________ Lyle W. Cayce
Clerk
United States of America,
Plaintiff—Appellee,
versus
Maxwell Chibueze Ezenwa,
Defendant—Appellant.
______________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas
USDC No. 4:20-CR-267-1
______________________________
Before Higginbotham, Graves, and Ho, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam:*
Maxwell Chibueze Ezenwa appeals his convictions, following a bench
trial, for wire fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and
conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Ezenwa challenges the sufficiency of the
evidence supporting each count of conviction as well as the district court’s
_____________________
*
This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
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No. 21-20609
proposed verdict form insofar as it listed the elements of mail and wire fraud.
We affirm the judgment.
We review sufficiency in the context of a bench trial for substantial
evidence, that is, “evidence sufficient to justify the trial judge, as the trier of
fact, in concluding beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty.”
United States v. Knowlton, 993 F.3d 354, 357 (5th Cir. 2021) (internal
quotation marks and citation omitted). As to wire fraud and conspiracy to
commit wire fraud, the testimony of numerous witnesses as well as
documentary evidence supported the convictions. See United States v.
Sanders, 952 F.3d 263, 277 (5th Cir. 2020); see also United States v. Kuhrt, 788
F.3d 403, 414 (5th Cir. 2015) (elements of conspiracy). There was evidence
that one of Ezenwa’s coconspirators, Shalewa Olayinka, obtained stolen
credit card information from the victims, which Ezenwa and another
coconspirator, Christy Tifase, used to process fraudulent transactions
through their respective businesses, Lace Warehouse and Lagos Island Café,
after which the proceeds of the fraud were withdrawn by Ezenwa and split
among the three. Ezenwa also maintained fake invoices, which he used to
substantiate the fraudulent credit card charges when banks issued charge-
backs. A postal inspector testified that approximately 70% of Lace
Warehouse’s credit card sales between 2013 and 2014 were fraudulent, and,
during an interview with the inspector, Ezenwa admitted to running
fraudulent credit cards at his business. Finally, none of the victims had
knowingly bought anything from Lace Warehouse. The evidence amply
supported the verdict on these counts.
On the mail fraud counts, the evidence was likewise sufficient. See
United States v. Evans, 892 F.3d 692, 711 (5th Cir. 2018). Various men,
whether or not personally known to Ezenwa, befriended women on dating
websites and eventually convinced them, through promises of investment, to
mail cashier’s checks for substantial sums of money to CAPS Global—
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No. 21-20609
another of Ezenwa’s companies—or to Ezenwa personally. Rather than
invest the victims’ money, Ezenwa and coconspirator Onuorah deposited
their checks into the bank accounts of CAPS Global and Onuorah’s various
businesses and then wired the money to themselves or to Nigerian
companies. Ezenwa also endorsed one of the victims’ checks, for $30,000,
to himself and cashed it. Cf. United States v. Freeman, 434 F.3d 369, 377 (5th
Cir. 2005). This same evidence supports a conspiracy conviction. See United
States v. Mann, 493 F.3d 484, 492 (5th Cir. 2007). That Ezenwa may not
have known all other members of the conspiracy is of no moment. See United
States v. Gonzalez, 907 F.3d 869, 874 (5th Cir. 2018). The existence of a mail
fraud conspiracy involving Ezenwa could be sufficiently inferred from the
concert of action in this case. See Sanders, 952 F.3d at 274.
Finally, Ezenwa challenges the district court’s verdict form on the
mail and wire fraud counts. There was no error. See United States v. Tencer,
103 F.3d 1120, 1127 (5th Cir. 1997).
AFFIRMED.
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