# United States v. Martin J. Bradley, Jr. > Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · June 29, 2011 URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/3048814 ## Case - **Court:** Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit - **Decided:** June 29, 2011 - **Precedential status:** Published - **Opinion:** Opinion - **Nature of suit:** NEW - **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library ## Citator (automated) - No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases. - Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/3048814 ## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction) - recognizing a duty to inform customers of certain information where failure to do so would cause the customer to be misled ## Opinion text [PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT FILED ________________________ U.S. COURT OF APPEALS ELEVENTH CIRCUIT No. 06-14934 JUNE 29, 2011 ________________________ JOHN LEY CLERK D. C. Docket No. 05-00059-CR-4 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus MARTIN J. BRADLEY, JR., BIO-MED PLUS, INC., ALBERT L. TELLECHEA, MARTIN J. BRADLEY, III., Defendants-Appellants. ________________________ No. 06-15555 ________________________ D. C. Docket No. 05-00059-CR-BAE-4 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus MARTIN J. BRADLEY, JR., Defendant-Appellant. ________________________ No. 06-15557 ________________________ D. C. Docket No. 05-00059-CR-BAE-4 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus MARTIN J. BRADLEY, III., Defendant, NORMA BRADLEY, Interested Party-Appellant. ________________________ No. 06-15676 ________________________ D. C. Docket No. 05-00059-CR-BAE-4 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 2 Plaintiff-Appellee, versus ALBERT L. TELLECHEA, Defendant-Appellant. ________________________ No. 06-15677 ________________________ D. C. Docket No. 05-00059-CR-BAE-4 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus MARTIN J. BRADLEY, III., Defendant-Appellant. ________________________ No. 07-12370 ________________________ D. C. Docket No. 05-00059-CR-4 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, 3 versus NORMA BRADLEY, MARTIN J. BRADLEY, JR., MARTIN J. BRADLEY, III, Defendants-Appellants, MARIA BRADLEY, Defendant. ________________________ Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia _________________________ (June 29, 2011) Before TJOFLAT and CARNES, Circuit Judges, and HOOD,* District Judge. TJOFLAT, Circuit Judge: This case involves multiple schemes to defraud the Florida and California Medicaid programs by causing them to pay for blood-derivative medications (“blood-derivatives”)1 more than once. Martin J. Bradley III and his father, Martin J. Bradley, Jr., (collectively “the Bradleys”) owned Bio-Med Plus, Inc. (“Bio- * Honorable Joseph M. Hood, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky, sitting by designation. 1 Blood-derivatives are derived from whole blood, plasma, and genetically engineered cell lines and used to treat viral diseases, immune deficiencies, and clotting disorders. 4 Med”)2, a Miami-based pharmaceutical wholesaler that purchased and sold blood- derivatives. Beginning in 1996, in addition to purchasing blood-derivatives from drug manufacturers, the Bradleys had Bio-Med purchase blood-derivatives that had not been administered to the patients for whom they had been prescribed and place those blood-derivatives in its inventory. Most of these patients were eligible for Medicaid—that is, Florida Medicaid, California Medicaid (“Medi-Cal”), or the Genetically Handicapped Persons Program (“GHPP”)3—and Medicaid had paid for their prescriptions. Bio-Med thereafter sold the unused blood-derivatives to pharmacies in Florida and California. The pharmacies, in turn, used them to fill prescriptions and then, in most cases, obtained reimbursement from the states’ Medicaid programs. Although these recycled blood-derivatives accounted for less than two and a half percent of Bio-Med’s overall sales, they accounted for a much larger portion of Bio-Med’s profits, yielding in excess of $39 million over a five-year span from 1998 through 2002. The Government chose to prosecute the Bradleys’ schemes under the anti- racketeering, conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering statutes, 18 2 The Bradleys incorporated Bio-Med under Florida law and owned all of its shares. 3 GHPP is a California agency. 5 U.S.C. §§ 1962, 371, 1341, 1343, and 1956, respectively, and the statutes criminalizing the failure to disclose an interest in a financial account in a foreign country while engaging in a pattern of illegal activity, i.e., mail fraud, wire fraud, or money laundering, 31 U.S.C. §§ 5314 and 5322(b). The grand jury indicted eight individuals, Bio-Med, and Interland Associates, Inc.4 All ten defendants 4 A Southern District of Georgia grand jury returned two indictments in this case. The first indictment was returned on March 22, 2005, the second, i.e., the superceding indictment, was returned on September 20, 2005. The initial indictment contained 288 counts. The superceding indictment contained 286 counts. The superceding indictment charged ten named defendants—Martin J. Bradley III, Martin J. Bradley, Jr., Jose A. Trespalacios, Edwin Rivera, Jr., Albert L. Tellechea, Marlene C. Caceres, Stephen B. Getz, Sara E. Griffin, Bio-Med Plus, Inc., and Interland Associates, Inc.—as follows. Count 1 charged all ten defendants under 18 U.S.C. § 1962©) with conducting the affairs of an “enterprise” (consisting of the defendants) through a pattern of racketeering activity, namely violations of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1343, 2314, and 1956(a)(1)(A)(i) and (B)(i), and 31 U.S.C. §§ 5314, 5322(b), 5324(a)(3), and 5324(d). The alleged purpose of the racketeering enterprise was to “obtain money for [the defendants] through mail fraud, wire fraud, interstate transportation of stolen goods and money laundering, in violation of [18 U.S.C. §§] 1341, 1343, 1956, and 2314.” Count 2 charged all ten defendants under 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) with conspiring to commit the substantive Count 1 offense. Count 3 charged the Bradleys, Bio-Med, Tellechea, Trespalacios, and Rivera under 18 U.S.C. § 371 with conspiring to defraud Florida Medicaid, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, and to pay physicians kickbacks to induce them to refer prescriptions for intravenous immune globulin and other prescription drugs to specific pharmacies, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b)(2)(B). Counts 4 through 32 charged the Count 3 defendants with defrauding Florida Medicaid, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343. Count 33 charged the Bradleys and Bio-Med under 18 U.S.C. § 371 with conspiracy to defraud Medi-Cal and GHPP, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343. Counts 34 through 53 charged the Bradleys and Bio-Med with defrauding Medi-Cal and GHPP, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343. Count 54 charged the Bradleys with conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h). Counts 55 through 82 charged the Bradleys with money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956(a)(1)(A)(i) and (B)(i). Counts 83 through 283 charged the Bradleys with money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956(a)(1)(A)(i) and (B)(i). Count 284 charged Bradley III and Counts 285 and 286 charged Bradley, Jr., with violating 31 U.S.C. §§ 5314 and 5322(b) by failing to file a report of foreign financial transactions while committing mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. In addition to the foregoing, the indictment sought the forfeiture of: (1) interests any defendant “acquired or maintained” in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1962©) and (d) (anti- racketeering); (2) interests a defendant obtained in any “property involved in” the violation of 18 6 stood trial before a jury. The jury exonerated five defendants5 and returned verdicts of guilty against four, Bradley III, Bradley, Jr., Bio-Med, and Albert L. Tellechea.6 It found against Bradley III on Counts 1 through 54 and 83 through 284, Bradley, Jr., on Counts 1, 54, 285, and 286, Bio-Med on Counts 1 through 53, and Tellechea on Count 3.7 The district court sentenced the Bradleys and Tellechea to terms of imprisonment, imposed fines, and ordered them to make restitution. Bio-Med was placed on probation, fined, and also ordered to make restitution. As part of the Bradleys’ sentences the district court ordered forfeiture to the United States of the Bradleys’ interests in Bio-Med. The court also ordered the Bradleys and Bio-Med to pay to the United States jointly and severally, as forfeiture, the sum of $39.5 million. All four defendants appealed their convictions and sentences.8 U.S.C. §§ 1956 or 1957 (money laundering) and any “property traceable to such property”; and (3) interests in “any property constituting, or derived from proceeds [a defendant] obtained . . ., as the result of” the violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (wire fraud). 5 The jury found Trespalacios, Rivera, Caceres, Getz, and Griffin not guilty on the counts brought against them. 6 The district court dismissed the case against Interland Associates, Inc. on its motion for judgment of acquittal made at the close of the Government’s case in chief. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 29(a). The court also granted the Bradleys’ motion for judgment of acquittal on Counts 55 through 82. See id. 7 The jury returned a special verdict on Count 1. As part of that special verdict, the jury listed, for each of the three convicted defendants, the specific numbers of the racketeering acts it found the defendants had committed beyond a reasonable doubt. 8 We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a). 7 Twenty-three days after the imposition of the four defendants’ sentences, and while their convictions and sentences were on appeal, the district court, to aid the Government in realizing the above forfeiture and the fines and special assessments imposed on the defendants, entered an order appointing a receiver and instructed her to marshal the defendants’ assets. The Bradleys, Bradley, Jr.’s wife, Norma Bradley, and Tellechea appealed that order,9 and it is now before us along with the appeals of the convictions and sentences.10 The Bradleys, Bio-Med, and Tellechea seek the reversal of their convictions and the entry of judgments of acquittal on the ground that the jury’s verdicts lack evidentiary support.11 Alternatively, they seek the vacation of their convictions and remand for a new trial on the ground that adverse rulings the district court 9 We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(2), which grants us jurisdiction over interlocutory orders appointing receivers. 10 No. 06-14934 is the appeal of the defendants’ convictions and sentences. The appeals of the order appointing the receiver are: No. 06-15555 (Bradley, Jr.); No. 06-15557 (Norma Bradley); No. 06-15676 (Bradley III); No. 06-15677 (Tellechea). No. 07-12370 is an appeal the Bradleys and Norma Bradley took from the district court’s order of May 17, 2007. All of these appeals have been consolidated. We previously dismissed three appeals taken by Maria Bradley, Bradley III’s wife, challenging the receivership order and orders relating to the receivership, Nos. 06-15021, 06-15022, and 06-15675. 11 All four convicted defendants moved the district court for judgments of acquittal at the close of the Government’s case in chief and at the close of all the evidence, both pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 29(a), and again following the return of the jury’s verdicts, pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 29©). 8 made pretrial and at trial deprived them of a fair trial.12 If neither form of relief is forthcoming, the defendants seek resentencing on the ground that the district court erred in applying the Sentencing Guidelines. The Bradleys, Norma Bradley, and Tellechea challenge the order creating the receivership on the ground that the Government does not need a receiver to collect the fines and special assessments the defendants are required to pay because the legal remedies the law provides are sufficient for that purpose. Nor, they argue, is a receiver needed to ensure that the defendants satisfy their restitution obligations to the victims of their crimes. We begin our consideration of these appeals by setting out, in part I, the facts the Government established in its case in chief.13 In part II, we explain why, in the light of those facts, the jury’s verdicts rest on solid ground. Part III determines that there is no basis in the district court’s adverse rulings—both pretrial and at trial—for granting a new trial. Part IV considers the challenges to the defendants’ sentences, affirms Bradley III’s and Bio-Med’s sentences, vacates 12 Along with their Rule 29©) motions for judgment of acquittal, these defendants moved the district court for a new trial pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 33 based on the same grounds they advance in this appeal. 13 Because we must determine whether the evidence presented at trial is sufficient to sustain the defendants’ convictions, we present the facts in part I in the light most favorable to the United States. United States v. Tampas, 493 F.3d 1291, 1297–98 (11th Cir. 2007). These facts do not need to “exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence or be wholly inconsistent with every conclusion except that of guilt.” Id. at 1298 (citation omitted). Rather, the question is whether those facts would enable a reasonable jury to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. 9 Bradley, Jr.’s and Tellechea’s sentences, and remands their cases for resentencing. Part V addresses the challenges to the receivership. Part VI concludes. I. The schemes to defraud the Florida and California Medicaid programs were of varying levels of complexity. All involved the “recycling”14 of blood- derivatives,15 numerous individuals and corporate entities, and multiple transactions. The “Florida Medicaid Scheme” encompassed several smaller 14 The process of recycling prescription medication, as that term is colloquially understood, involves the repurchase or reacquisition and restocking of medication. It is entirely possible for this process to be legal, and in some cases it is quite beneficial. For example, a prescription drug wholesaler might obtain unused medication from a pharmacy, restock that medication, and resell it to another pharmacy or patient. Such is an example of the legitimate “secondary market” for prescription blood-derivatives. The term “recycling,” however, does include the process complained of here, where medication is dispensed to patients, repurchased from those patients after an undetermined time and in an undetermined state, and then resold. 15 In this opinion, we omit discussion of other fraudulent schemes alleged in the indictment, all involving the “diversion” of various medications, because such schemes are not relevant to the issues the defendants have raised on appeal. Though certainly related, diversion schemes differ slightly from recycling schemes. A diversion scheme involves the improper purchase or acquisition of medications, as opposed to a recycling scheme, which involves repurchase or reacquisition. The difference lies in the fact that, in a recycling scheme, the medications have been previously distributed by the manufacturer or the wholesaler, and the schemer is purchasing them on the “open” market in order to sell them for a profit; if there is a wrong, it depends on whether the medications have been properly cared for by the original purchaser and whether the secondary purchaser fully discloses and accounts for the medications’ condition. See supra note 14. In a diversion scheme, by way of contrast, the wrong is committed upon the initial purchase or acquisition. The market for diverted medications is not “open”; the market has been restricted by the manufacturer or wholesaler to certain individuals or entities, and the schemer has misrepresented himself or itself to gain access to that market. It is only after the schemer has wrongfully gained access to the medications that he or it is able to take them to a different market and sell them for a profit in a process similar to arbitrage—the practice of taking advantage of price differences in two different markets, that is, buying a product at a lower price in one (here, restricted) market and selling at a higher price in another (here, open) one. 10 schemes named for the various individuals and entities with whom the Bradleys and Bio-Med were conducting business, including the “Infustat & Seratech Scheme,” the “Sentry/Castro Scheme,” and the “Liz Pascual/IV Solutions Scheme.” The “California Medicaid Scheme,” involving Medi-Cal and GHPP, included no sub-schemes. We begin in Florida and then move to California. A. The Florida Medicaid Scheme was executed in this way. Physicians who were working at AIDS clinics in the Miami area and prescribing intravenous immune globulin (“IVIG”)16 for AIDS patients were recruited by Bradley III confederates Harry Castro, Jose A. Trespalacios, and Tellechea17 to do two things: (1) to have their prescriptions filled at Infustat, Inc. (“Infustat”)18 and Seratech, Inc. 16 IVIG is the general acronym for intravenous immune globulin, a blood-derivative used to treat patients with a compromised immune system. The medication is sold under a variety of names; some varieties are more expensive than others. As the acronym suggests, IVIG is infused into a patient’s body intravenously. Physicians at HIV treatment centers diagnose patients in need of IVIG infusions and clinical employees conduct the infusions. 17 Castro began recruiting the physicians while working with Tellechea and Trespalacios at Infustat, Inc.; Tellechea and Trespalacios dealt with the physicians after Castro recruited them. At some point, Castro left Infustat, purchased Sentry Drugs (the genesis of the Sentry/Castro Scheme), and started working the same scam with three of the physicians he had originally recruited for Infustat. Tellechea and Trespalacios continued to work with remaining physicians, including Dr. Patrick Cadigan and Dr. Jose Arocha. Tellechea was also linked through evidence seized from his office to two additional physicians, Dr. Karen Raben and Dr. Lawrence Feldman. 18 Infustat, a Florida corporation, was originally formed by Tellechea, Castro, and Rivera. Bradley III purchased Castro’s share after Castro left Infustat. 11 (“Seratech”),19 both “closed door pharmacies”20 in which the Bradleys possessed an ownership interest or otherwise controlled;21 and (2) to resell back to the Bradleys and Bio-Med the IVIG that went unused when a patient failed to appear at the clinic for the IVIG infusion.22 For that unused IVIG, the Bradleys paid approximately one-third the price at which Florida Medicaid had reimbursed the pharmacies. In addition to the sale price of the IVIG, the physicians received kickbacks for having their patients’ prescriptions filled at Infustat and Seratech; for example, Dr. Jose Arocha and Dr. Patrick Cadigan received kickbacks of $10,000 and $5,000, respectively, each month for continuing the arrangement. 19 Seratech was incorporated under Florida law. 20 In the context of the Florida Medicaid Scheme, a “closed door pharmacy” purchased blood-derivatives from manufacturers and wholesalers for distribution, sold the medication to a limited patient population, and delivered it to the patients or the patients’ physicians for administration. 21 After filling the prescriptions, Infustat and Seratech submitted, at the beginning of each month, a mass-reimbursement request to Florida Medicaid to obtain payment for the prescriptions they filled the previous month. Like any pharmacy seeking Florida Medicaid reimbursement, these pharmacies had to provide Florida Medicaid with the patients’ Medicaid numbers to be reimbursed. The pharmacies were given the Medicaid numbers by the physicians when they prescribed IVIG for their patients. Armed with these Medicaid numbers, the pharmacies obtained reimbursement from Florida Medicaid; every month, the physicians would renew the patients’ prescriptions, and the pharmacy would submit a new reimbursement request to Florida Medicaid. Pharmacies often submitted their reimbursement requests for a group of prescriptions rather than for individual prescriptions. Although expressly permitted under—and even directed by—Florida Medicaid rules, the practice of submitting such massive requests made it highly unlikely that Florida Medicaid would closely scrutinize an individual prescription. 22 After filling an IVIG prescription, the pharmacy delivered the medication straight to the clinic for infusion by the prescribing physician. 12 About twice a month, Tellechea or Trespalacios, or both, came to the clinics, picked up the unused IVIG, and took it to Michael Bossey, who owned MedPoint, Inc. (“MedPoint”), a closed door pharmacy operating in the Miami area. Bossey, in turn, delivered the IVIG to Bio-Med’s warehouse in Miami.23 Bossey provided Tellechea with the money to pay the physicians who sold the IVIG.24 Bossey obtained the necessary funds by having MedPoint invoice Bio- Med for the illictly-procured IVIG at the going wholesale price pharmacies were paying wholesalers for the medication. This created the impression that MedPoint, a pharmacy, was returning to Bio-Med the IVIG it did not need, or was swapping IVIG for other blood-derivatives that it needed more than IVIG, and that Bio-Med, a wholesaler, was willing to purchase the IVIG or accept it as payment. Bio-Med subsequently sold the unused IVIG to pharmacies, both those owned by the Bradleys and unsuspecting third party pharmacies, which used the medications to fill prescriptions for other patients.25 Using the other patients’ 23 Bossey obtained the majority of MedPoint’s blood-derivatives from legitimate sources, but, as with Bio-Med, earned a larger profit with recycled IVIG. Bossey was not indicted for his role in the Florida Medicaid Scheme and testified for the prosecution at trial. 24 Tellechea paid the physicians in cash. Bossey paid Tellechea in cash or by a check drawn on MedPoint’s bank account. Bio-Med provided Bossey with the funds needed to cover the checks. 25 Bossey, on behalf of the Bradleys and Bio-Med, sometimes forged or altered drug labels and expiration dates and affixed them to the recycled IVIG vials along with forged “pedigree” papers. A pedigree is a document designed to track the supply chain of medication, memorializing each transaction as the drugs move from manufacturer to the ultimate recipient. 13 Medicaid numbers, these pharmacies billed Florida Medicaid for the unused IVIG. Over time, the Florida Medicaid Scheme grew to involve a second prescription drug wholesaler owned by the Bradleys, Intermed Pharmaceutical, Inc., d/b/a Intermed Marketing of Savannah (“Intermed”).26 Intermed ostensibly operated as Bio-Med’s purchasing agent, but was largely used to conceal payments made to Bossey and Tellechea and, through them, to the physicians who were providing the unused IVIG. Bossey, on behalf of MedPoint, billed Intermed for the unused IVIG he delivered to Bio-Med.27 Intermed, in turn, paid Bossey at MedPoint. This gave the appearance that MedPoint was selling Intermed excess inventory of traditionally-acquired IVIG instead of the unused IVIG Bossey was delivering to Bio-Med’s Miami warehouse. Bio-Med provided Intermed the funds See 21 U.S.C. § 353(e)(1)(A) (codifying the “pedigree” requirement of the Prescription Drug Marketing Act of 1987, Pub. L. No. 100-293, 102 Stat. 95, and the Prescription Drug Amendments of 1992, Pub. L. 102-353, 106 Stat. 941). A pedigree enables a person to trace the movement of a medication from its sale by the manufacturer, through its acquisition and resale by the wholesaler or repackager, to the final sale to a pharmacy. It helps in confirming that medication has been properly shipped and stored, and is useful in determining which patients to alert in the case of a recall. 26 Bradley III and Bradley, Jr., incorporated Intermed in Georgia in 1998. Bradley, Jr., served as the company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. 27 Bossey, at Bradley III’s request, frequently misstated the quantity and price of the IVIG MedPoint purportedly sold to Intermed. Bradley III worried that industry regulators would become suspicious if Intermed purchased drugs well below the industry average price, so he had Bossey increase the listed price for the IVIG and decrease the stated quantity on the invoices he sent to Intermed. Copies of these invoices found at Bio-Med included hand-written notations confirming the actual quantity of IVIG Bossey delivered to Bio-Med. 14 it needed to complete the transactions. The amount of recycled IVIG Florida Medicaid paid for varied based on the number of patients who had prescriptions for IVIG, but failed to appear for their infusions. According to an assistant of Dr. Arocha,28 only a small percentage of Dr. Arocha’s patients regularly kept their appointments at the clinic. One of Dr. Cadigan’s assistants said that only twenty to thirty percent of Dr. Cadigan’s patients appeared at the clinic when scheduled for an infusion;29 Dr. Cadigan estimated that figure to be fifty percent.30 By one estimate, Bio-Med paid approximately $200,000 every month for recycled IVIG purchased from these two physicians. Bio-Med paid nearly the same amount for IVIG from Sentry Drugs, the closed door pharmacy Harry Castro acquired in 2000 after leaving Infustat.31 28 Some of the IVIG Infustat sent to Dr. Arocha’s clinic came in irregular packaging—indicating that the IVIG had been recycled. Infustat billed Florida Medicaid for the medication. 29 During Dr. Cadigan’s leave of absence from the clinic, one of his assistants began supplying Tellechea with unused IVIG. When Dr. Cadigan returned, he continued the relationship. He shared the $5,000 kickback he received each month with the clinical employees who forged patient signatures certifying infusions that were never performed. Dr. Cadigan ceased providing IVIG to Tellechea in December 2001. 30 Between February 2000 and February 2001, Dr. Cadigan was the most active physician prescribing IVIG in Florida. 31 See supra note 17. Castro was not indicted for his role in the Florida Medicaid scheme; he testified as a prosecution witness at the trial. Upon leaving Infustat, Castro took with him a large quantity of IVIG from Infustat’s inventory. Castro then resold that IVIG to Bradley III; the purchase price was included in the price Bradley III paid for Castro’s interest in Infustat. Bradley III and Bio-Med continued doing business with Castro after he purchased Sentry. 15 Sentry, like MedPoint, invoiced Intermed for the unused IVIG, but delivered it to Bio-Med’s warehouse. The Bradleys and Bio-Med made substantial profits on every gram of recycled IVIG resold. It purchased the medications at approximately $40 per gram; $20 went to the physician, $10 to Bossey, and $10 to Tellechea and Trespalacios. During the same time period, Florida Medicaid reimbursed pharmacies for IVIG at $54 per gram. The Bradleys thereby earned a profit somewhere in the range of $14 per gram on IVIG it acquired from the physicians.32 Another Bio-Med source of IVIG was Elizabeth (“Liz”) Pascual, who owned the closed door pharmacy, IV Solutions, Inc (“IV Solutions”),33 and who carried out the so-called Liz Pascual/IV Solutions Scheme.34 Bradley III contacted Pascual in 1998 in search of IVIG.35 When Pascual informed him that IV Solutions had none in stock, Bradley III urged her to get on a manufacturer’s waiting list for the 32 This figure assumes that the Bradleys had Bio-Med sell the recycled IVIG to pharmacies they controlled. It is possible, however, that the Bradleys might have had Bio-Med sell the IVIG to third-party pharmacies at wholesale rates, which, depending upon the circumstances, could have been higher or lower than $54. 33 IV Solutions was a privately owned Florida corporation. 34 Pascual was not indicted for her role in the scheme; she testified as a prosecution witness at the trial. 35 During 1999 and 2000, the Food and Drug Administration closed two of the five major producers of blood-derivatives, causing a major shortage of IVIG. 16 blood-derivative.36 Pascual did so, falsely indicating that she had patients in need of IVIG; in reality, IV Solutions had no patients at all.37 In the meantime, Pascual purchased unused IVIG from a source she developed. Pascual sold the recycled IVIG to Bio-Med under invoices issued to Intermed. This medication often came in irregular packaging and always without pedigree. To obscure the fact that the IVIG was being recycled, Bradley III instructed Pascual to note on her invoices “direct account with manufacturer,” a phrase which implied that pedigree had been established.38 Pascual received payment for the IVIG in cashier’s checks purchased by Intermed and delivered to her in person or by mail. The Bradleys profited heavily from the IVIG Bio-Med obtained from Pascual. Pascual purchased the IVIG for approximately $42 per gram and invoiced it to Intermed at $54 per gram. Intermed invoiced it to Bio-Med at $58 per gram, approximately the manufacturers’ price for IVIG during that period, so that the transfer would look legitimate. Florida Medicaid reimbursed the Bradleys’ 36 Pharmaceutical wholesalers, such as Bio-Med, were ineligible for the waiting list. Due to the IVIG shortage, manufacturers would distribute IVIG only to closed door pharmacies and doctors’ offices so that individual patients would be certain to get the dosage they needed. 37 This is an example of the unlawful diversion not at issue in this appeal; Pascual used false pretenses to acquire medication the manufacturer would not have sold to her absent any misdirection. 38 If Pascual failed to make the requested notation, a Bio-Med secretary would contact her on behalf of Bradley III to remind her to note the “direct account” language on her invoices to Intermed. 17 pharmacies, Infustat and Seratech, for the same IVIG at $72.89 per gram.39 On every sale, the Bradleys and Bio-Med, through these pharmacies, effectively retained the difference between the $54 per gram purchase price and the $72.89 reimbursement price, or $18.89 per gram. B. The Bradleys and Bio-Med began running the Medi-Cal/GHPP Scheme in 1998. Prior to that time, Actsys Medical, Inc. (“Actsys”), a prescription drug wholesale business, supplied Recombinate,40 a hemophilia medication, to pharmacies, which, in turn, obtained reimbursement from Medi-Cal or GHPP. Actsys’ two principal owners, Jon Tamiyasu and Kelly Smith, and another individual, Jim Williams, owned one of the closed door pharmacies, Apex Therapeutic Care, Inc. (“Apex”), purchasing Recombinate from Actsys. As sales representative for Apex, Williams then developed a network of hemophiliac patients—all of whom subscribed to either Medi-Cal or GHPP—who were willing to sell their excess Recombinate after receiving reimbursement for the medication 39 Though not explicit from the record, we assume that this was a different variety of IVIG than was involved in the Infustat & Seratech and Sentry/Castro Schemes. 40 Recombinate is a blood factor medication used to aid clotting in hemophiliacs. Apex supplied pharmacies with other medications that were similar to, and served the same purpose as, Recombinate. For simplicity, we refer to all of these medications as Recombinate. 18 from Medi-Cal or GHPP.41 After negotiating with these patients, Williams worked out a deal whereby he, Tamiyasu, and Smith (collectively, the “Apex Partners”) would purchase that unused Recombinate and recycle it to be resold.42 In 1998, Tamiyasu approached Bradley III with an opportunity to purchase this unused Recombinate at discounted rate, and Bradley III agreed. Thereafter, once Williams obtained the Recombinate from his network of patients, Smith would remove all identifying papers from the vials and ship the vials (off the books) to Bio-Med in Miami. Bio-Med kept the majority of the recycled Recombinate for its own stock and sold the remainder back to Apex, which, to accommodate its arrangement with Bio-Med, had commenced operating as a wholesaler as well as a closed door pharmacy. Eventually the Apex Partners stopped shipping the unused Recombinate they intended to repurchase from Bio- Med to Miami and instead held that Recombinate in California pending the outcome of the transaction; that Recombinate was bought and sold, then, solely on 41 Unlike patients receiving IVIG, hemophiliac patients obtained their physician- prescribed Recombinate directly from their pharmacy and performed their own infusions. The Apex Partners knew that most patients were prescribed a monthly allotment of Recombinate sufficient to allow them both daily prophylactic doses—i.e., to ensure that, at all times, they had clotting factors in their blood—and a buffer amount for emergencies. Williams asked the patients to either reduce their prophylactic dosages or stockpile the buffer amount to ensure that a sizable supply of unused Recombinate was always on hand. 42 Tamiyasu, Williams, and Smith—the Apex Partners—were not indicted; they testified for the Government at trial. 19 paper. This had the effect of washing the Recombinate clean of any taint—to an outside observer, the Recombinate appeared to have been purchased legitimately by Apex from Bio-Med and shipped to California from Miami even though it had never once left the Apex Partners’ possession. Both Bio-Med and Apex distributed the Recombinate to pharmacies, which, unaware of how the Recombinate had been acquired, dispensed it to patients. Apex also distributed the unused Recombinate to its patients. Medi-Cal and GHPP reimbursed the pharmacies, including Apex, for the Recombinate at $1.28 per unit (the rate for unused Recombinate). Bio-Med paid the Apex Partners nearly $2.3 million for the Recombinate. The payments were made in cash or by check written on a Bio-Med bank account. After the Bradleys incorporated Intermed, Intermed paid the Apex Partners approximately $2.1 million on its bank account in Savannah, Georgia. About $300,000 more came from an account in Puerto Rico for which the Bradleys were signatories. Finally, the Apex Partners charged another $1 million on an off-shore credit card the Bradleys gave them. The credit card company was paid with funds drawn on bank accounts in Nassau, Miami, and Savannah that were controlled by the Bradleys.43 43 We discuss the circumstances of the Bradleys’ payments to the Apex Partners in more detail in subpart C, infra. 20 C. The Bradleys and their associates attempted to camouflage the profits they realized from the schemes. In February 1998, the Bradleys incorporated Intermed Pharmaceutical Supply, Corp. (“IPS”)44 as a trading company headquartered in Nassau, the Bahamas. In May and December of that year, Bradley, Jr., opened two accounts in IPS’s name at the Nassau location of Barclays Bank PLC. A corresponding account was opened at a SunTrust Bank in Savannah. The Bradleys then arranged for money to be transferred from their domestic accounts, including the SunTrust account, into the Barclays accounts. In 1998, almost $2 million was transferred. In 1999, that figure was nearly $3 million, dropping to a little more than $800,000 in 2000. Funds were paid out of the Barclays accounts to several individuals and entities involved in the schemes. The payment methods were not consistent; the Bradleys altered their methods after realizing that certain transactions were more easily tracked by law enforcement. The Bradleys first transferred funds out of the IPS accounts to a Barclays account in the name of Global Biologics, a corporation the Apex Partners created.45 The Apex Partners obtained credit cards linked to the 44 IPS and Intermed are separate and distinct corporate entities. 45 The transfers from the IPS account to the Global Biologics account were made in payment for Recombinate Apex collected and sold to Bio-Med as part of the California Medicaid Scheme. 21 Global Biologics account, which they used to purchase luxury goods and other personal items or services. The Bradleys also withdrew funds for their own use from the IPS accounts by arranging for credit/debit cards to be issued in their names and funding those cards with payments from the IPS accounts at Barclays. Later, the Bradleys ceased using the cards and instead made direct transfers from the Barclays accounts to Infustat’s and Bio-Med’s corporate accounts and to Tellechea’s personal bank account. These transfers totaled over $1.5 million in 1998, over $3.1 million in 1999, and just north of $845,000 in 2000.46 Neither Bradley disclosed the existence of the Barclays accounts to the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) in 1999 or 2000, both failing to check the appropriate box on Form 1040’s Schedule B acknowledging “an interest in or a signature authority or other authority over a financial account in a foreign country.” The Bradleys also failed to file the corresponding Treasury Department Form 90-22.1, which is used to report income from a foreign bank account. II. The Bradleys and Bio-Med argue that the facts as depicted above were insufficient to establish that they committed the crimes alleged in the 46 These transfers, ranging anywhere from tens to multiple thousands of dollars were ostensibly for pharmaceutical purchases made by IPS. However, IPS lacked the overhead costs usually associated with a business engaging in such large transactions. For example, in 1998, IPS’s telephone bill was only $26. 22 indictment—specifically, violations of the RICO, mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering statutes. The Bradleys also contend that the Government failed to make out a case under the statute requiring the reporting of foreign financial transactions. Tellechea argues that the Government failed to prove that he conspired to defraud Florida Medicaid or to pay physicians kickbacks for having blood-derivative prescriptions filled at the Bradleys’ closed-door pharmacies. We turn first, in subpart A, to the Bradleys’ and Bio-Med’s arguments, then, in subpart B, to Tellechea’s. Finally, in subpart C, we consider Bradley III and Tellechea’s argument that the district court erred in denying their motions for judgment of acquittal on venue grounds. A. In assessing the Bradleys’ and Bio-Med’s challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence, we focus on the arguments they have not advanced in their briefs in addition to those they have made. For example, they do not dispute that Bio-Med was recycling blood-derivatives as the Government contended. Rather, they argue that their recycling scheme did not operate to defraud Florida Medicaid, Medi-Cal, or GHPP—that is, neither those programs nor the patients to whom the recycled medications were administered were the victims of a fraud they perpetrated. If they are correct, none of their convictions can stand, as each is predicated on the 23 alleged fraud perpetrated against Florida Medicaid and Medi-Cal or GHPP. 1. Bradley III was convicted on Counts 1 through 54 and 83 through 284, Bradley, Jr., on Counts 1, 54, 285 and 286, Bio-Med on Counts 1 through 53.47 To make their point that the evidence failed to show fraud, these defendants direct their argument to Count 1, which influences—if not directly controls—our decision on the remaining counts. Count 1 was brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. § 1962©).48 Count 1 alleged that the Bradleys, Bio-Med, Tellechea, and others constituted an “enterprise” engaged in interstate commerce and that they conducted that enterprise “through a pattern of 47 The offenses charged in those counts are set out in note 4, supra. 48 Section 1962©) states, It shall be unlawful for any person employed by or associated with any enterprise engaged in, or the activities of which affect, interstate or foreign commerce, to conduct or participate, directly or indirectly, in the conduct of such enterprise’s affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity or collection of unlawful debt. 18 U.S.C. § 1962©). An “enterprise includes any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity, and any . . . group of individuals associated in fact although not a legal entity.” 18 U.S.C. § 1961. “Racketeering activity” includes “any act which is indictable under . . . [18 U.S.C. §§] 1341 (relating to mail fraud), . . . 1343 (relating to wire fraud), . . . 1956 (relating to the laundering of monetary instruments), 2314 and 2315 (relating to interstate transportation of stolen property, . . . [or] any act which is indictable under the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act, [31 U.S.C. §§ 5311–30 and 31 C.F.R. Part 301].” 18 U.S.C. § 1961(1). 24 racketeering activity.”49 All of the acts that made up the pattern of racketeering alleged in Count 1, i.e., the acts the Bradleys and Bio-Med were found to have committed in carrying out the recycling scheme, were based on fraud—mail 49 To be found guilty of conducting an enterprise’s affairs through a “pattern of racketeering activity,” the defendant must have committed, or aided and abetted the commission of, at least two acts of racketeering activity . . . the last of which occurred within ten years . . . after the commission of a prior act of racketeering activity.” 18 U.S.C. § 1961(5). Specifically, the Government must prove two components: the predicate acts [of racketeering] must relate to the enterprise charged, which we have referred to as the “relationship component,” . . . and the predicate acts must actually form a pattern, i.e., relate to each other and have continuity . . . which we have called the “pattern component.” United States v. Browne, 505 F.3d 1229, 1257–58 (11th Cir. 2007) (internal quotation and citation omitted). Regarding the pattern component, the predicate acts must relate to each other (as distinguished from the relationship component), meaning that the predicate acts must have the same or similar purposes, results, participants, victims, or methods of commission, or otherwise [be] interrelated by distinguishing characteristics and . . . not [be] isolated events. Id. at 1258 (internal quotations omitted) (emphasis in original); see also H.J., Inc. v. Nw. Bell Tele. Co., 492 U.S. 229, 241, 109 S. Ct. 2893, 2902, 106 L. Ed. 2d 195 (1989) (“What a . . . prosecutor must prove is continuity of racketeering activity, or its threat, simpliciter.” (emphasis in original)). The pattern component, requiring that the predicate acts relate to each other and have continuity, may be established by demonstrating a series of related predicate acts committed over a specific period of time, i.e., a “closed-ended theory,” or by demonstrating that certain related predicate acts are either likely to be repeated in the future or are part of an entity’s regular way of doing business, i.e., an “open-ended theory.” Browne, 505 F.3d at 1259–60. “[B]ecause any combination of two factually sufficient predicate acts can support a finding of continuity, that finding—and thus the substantive RICO conviction—may stand ‘if the evidence is sufficient with respect to any [two] of the acts charged.’” Id. at 1261 (quoting Griffin v. United States, 502 U.S. 46, 56–57, 112 S. Ct. 466, 473, 116 L. Ed. 2d 371 (1991)). 25 fraud;50 wire fraud;51 transportation of blood-derivatives acquired by fraud;52 laundering money obtained by mail fraud and wire fraud;53 failure to disclose an interest in a financial account in a foreign country while engaged in mail fraud, wire fraud, and laundering money obtained by mail or wire fraud.54 The Bradleys and Bio-Med do not dispute that they and the others constituted, and operated as, an “enterprise.” Nor do they dispute that the mailings, wire communications, transportation of blood-derivatives, monetary transactions, and failure to disclose an interest in a foreign financial account took place as alleged in the superceding indictment. They dispute, instead, that the jury had evidence of fraud sufficient to 50 Bradley III and Bio-Med were found to have committed mail fraud involving Med-Cal and/or GHPP in racketeering acts 65 through 82, and mail fraud involving a diversion scheme targeting the “Group Purchasing Organization” in racketeering acts 116 through 122 and 126 through 131. Bio-Med committed mail fraud involving a diversion scheme targeting “NABI” in racketeering acts 255 and 256. 51 Bradley III and Bio-Med committed wire fraud involving Florida Medicaid in racketeering acts 1 through 29, and wire fraud involving Medi-Cal and/or GHPP in racketeering acts 65 through 82. 52 In racketeering acts 30 through 34 and 83 through 87, Bradley III and Bio-Med transported IGIV (acts 30 through 34) and Recombinate (acts 83 through 87) in interstate commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2314, “in the execution or concealment of a scheme or artifice to defraud.” Bio-Med committed this § 2314 offense, involving blood-derivatives, in racketeering acts 185 through 202. 53 Bradley, Jr., engaged in money laundering involving mail and/or wire fraud in racketeering acts 223 through 245. 54 Bradley III was found to have failed to disclose an interest in a financial account in a foreign country while engaging in a pattern of illegal conduct, i.e., mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, in racketeering acts 251 and 253 (although he was only charged with acts 251 and 252). Bradley, Jr., committed the same offense in acts 253 and 254. 26 convict them on Count 1. Bradley III and Bio-Med make the same argument with respect to their convictions on Counts 2 through 53. Count 2 alleged a RICO conspiracy, 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d), to commit the Count 1 offense. Count 3 alleged that Bradley III and Bio-Med conspired to defraud Florida Medicaid by wire. Counts 4 through 32 alleged that they defrauded Florida Medicaid by wire. Count 33 alleged that they conspired to defraud Medi-Cal and GHPP by wire. Counts 34 through 53 alleged that they defrauded Medi-Cal and GHPP by wire. The Bradleys again make the same argument with respect to the remaining counts of conviction. They were convicted on Count 54, which alleged that they conspired to launder money obtained by mail fraud and/or wire fraud. Bradley III was convicted on Counts 83 through 283 for laundering money obtained by mail fraud and/or wire fraud. Bradley III was convicted on Count 284 and Bradley, Jr., was convicted on Counts 285 and 286 for failing to disclose an interest in a financial account in a foreign country while engaging in a pattern of illegal conduct, i.e., mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. Because the outcome of the Bradleys’ and Bio-Med’s sufficiency-of-the- evidence arguments turn on the absence of fraud, we start with what constitutes mail fraud and wire fraud, and how those offenses serve as elements of money 27 laundering, transportation of stolen goods, and failure to disclose foreign financial transactions. a. Mail55 and wire56 fraud are analytically identical save for the method of execution. “Both offenses require that a person (1) intentionally participates in a scheme or artifice to defraud another of money or property, and (2) uses or ‘causes’ the use of the mails or wires for the purpose of executing the scheme or artifice.” United States v. Ward, 486 F.3d 1212, 1222 (11th Cir. 2007) (citing United States v. Hewes, 729 F.2d 1302, 1320 (11th Cir. 1984) (mail fraud), and United States v. Hasson, 333 F.3d 1264, 1270 (11th Cir. 2003) (wire fraud)). The 55 In relevant part, the mail fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1341, provides that: Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, . . . places in any post office or authorized depository for mail matter, any matter or thing whatever to be sent or delivered by the Postal Service, or deposits or causes to be deposited any matter or thing whatever to be sent or delivered by any private or commercial interstate carrier, or takes or receives therefrom, any such matter or thing, or knowingly causes to be delivered by mail or such carrier according to the direction thereon, . . . shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. 56 In relevant part, the wire fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1343, provides that: Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, transmits or causes to be transmitted by means of wire, radio, or television communication in interstate or foreign commerce, any writings, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. 28 first element, a scheme or artifice to defraud, “requires proof of a material misrepresentation, or the omission or concealment of a material fact calculated to deceive another out of money or property.”57 United States v. Maxwell, 579 F.3d 1282, 1299 (11th Cir. 2009) (emphasis added). “A misrepresentation is material if it has a natural tendency to influence, or is capable of influencing, the decision maker to whom it is addressed.” Id. (internal quotations and alteration omitted). The second element is self-explanatory. [A] person “causes” the mails to be used within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 1341, or the wires to be used within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, when he acts “with knowledge that the use of the mails [or wires] will follow in the ordinary course of business, or where such use can reasonably be foreseen, even though not actually intended.” Ward, 486 F.3d at 1222 (quoting Pereira v. United States, 347 U.S. 1, 8–9, 74 S. Ct. 358, 363, 98 L. Ed. 435 (1954) (alteration in original). Proof of intent to defraud is necessary to support convictions for mail and 57 At the time of the trial in this case, Eleventh Circuit precedent dictated that a scheme to defraud necessitated the making of a misrepresentation reasonably calculated to deceive persons of ordinary prudence and comprehension. United States v. Brown, 79 F.3d 1550, 1558–60 (11th Cir. 1996) (reversing a mail fraud conviction where the deception was easily discovered from “readily available external sources”). We have since overruled Brown and held that the mail fraud statute—and hence the wire fraud statute—prohibits “any scheme or artifice to defraud,” no matter how fanciful. United States v. Svete, 556 F.3d 1157, 1169 (11th Cir. 2009) (en banc) (emphasis in original). Because the schemes at issue in this appeal meet both standards, the change in law from one standard to another does not affect these defendants. 29 wire fraud. United States v. Jennings, 599 F.3d 1241, 1250 (11th Cir. 2010).58 “A jury may infer an intent to defraud from the defendant’s conduct.” Maxwell, 579 F.3d at 1301. “Evidence that a defendant personally profited from a fraud may provide circumstantial evidence of an intent to participate in that fraud.” United States v. Naranjo, 634 F.3d 1198, 1207 (11th Cir. 2011) (citing United States v. Navarro-Ordas, 770 F.2d 959, 966–67 (11th Cir. 1985)). Significantly, the mail and wire fraud statutes “punish unexecuted as well as executed schemes.” Pelletier v. Zweifel, 921 F.2d 1465, 1498 (11th Cir. 1991). It is therefore unnecessary that the victim actually relies on the misrepresentation or omission; proof of intent to defraud is sufficient. See id. All that is necessary is that the scheme be reasonably calculated to deceive; the intent element of the crime is shown by the existence of the scheme. United States v. Bruce, 488 F.2d 1224, 1229 (5th Cir. 1973).59 58 In Pelletier v. Zweifel, 921 F.2d 1465 (11th Cir. 1991), we described the required mens rea element thusly: [T]he defendant must have had a conscious knowing intent to defraud. This mens rea element dictates, in practice, that the perpetrator of the scheme anticipate reliance. A defendant cannot possibly intend to deceive someone if he does not believe that his intended “victim” will act on his deception. Mail and wire fraud, just like common law fraud, thus entail an intention to induce the victim to act or to refrain from action in reliance upon the misrepresentation. Id. at 1499 (internal quotation marks, citations, and alterations omitted) (emphasis in original). 59 In Bonner v. City of Prichard, 661 F.2d 1206, 1209 (11th Cir. 1981) (en banc), this court adopted as binding precedent all decisions of the former Fifth Circuit handed down prior to 30 The mail and wire fraud statutes, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1343, do not define what constitutes a scheme to defraud. In the absence of a statutory definition, the courts have provided a judicial framework for conceptualizing a fraudulent scheme. See United States v. Pendergraft, 297 F.3d 1198, 1208 (11th Cir. 2002) (“[T]he meaning of ‘scheme to defraud’ has been judicially defined.” (citing United States v. Lemire, 720 F.2d 1327, 1335 (D.C. Cir. 1983)). That framework defies measure by a technical standard, Bruce, 448 F.2d at 1229, but gives us a handy measure to articulate what constitutes a “scheme to defraud,” Pendergraft, 297 F.3d at 1208. Pursuant to the judicial definition, a “scheme to defraud” is broader than the common law conception of fraud. Id. (citing Hammerschmidt v. United States, 265 U.S. 182, 188, 44 S. Ct. 511, 512, 68 L. Ed. 968 (1924)). Our definition “is a reflection of moral uprightness, of fundamental honesty, fair play and right dealing in the general and business life of members of society.” Gregory v. United States, 253 F.2d 104, 109 (5th Cir. 1958). But despite its breadth, the judicial definition does not lack teeth; “the word still signifies ‘the deprivation of something of value by trick, deceit, chicane, or overreaching.’” Pendergraft, 297 F.3d at 1208–09 (quoting Hammerschmidt, 265 U.S. at 188, 44 S. Ct. at 512). To gauge a defendant’s intent to commit a October 1, 1981. 31 fraudulent scheme, then, we must determine whether the defendant attempted to obtain, by deceptive means, something to which he was not entitled. b. In the present case, proof of an intent to engage in mail and wire fraud was necessary for the Government to obtain convictions on the counts alleging transportation of stolen goods in interstate commerce, 18 U.S.C. § 2314,60 and money laundering, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956(a)(1)(A)(i)61 (concerning so-called 60 In relevant part, the transportation of stolen goods statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2314, provides that: Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, transports or causes to be transported, or induces any person or persons to travel in, or to be transported in interstate or foreign commerce in the execution or concealment of a scheme or artifice to defraud that person or those persons of money or property having a value of $5,000 or more ... .... Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. 61 In relevant part, the promotional money laundering statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(A)(i), provides that: (a) (1) Whoever, knowing that the property involved in a financial transaction represents the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, conducts or attempts to conduct such a financial transaction which in fact involves the proceeds of specified unlawful activity— (A) (i) with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity . . . .... .... shall be sentenced to a fine of not more than $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater, or 32 “promotional money laundering”) and 1956(a)(1)(B)(i)62 (concerning so-called “concealment money laundering”). Proof of mail or wire fraud was necessary to obtain a conviction for the transportation of stolen goods in interstate commerce because that offense, as charged in this case, requires that the transported goods be moved in connection with a scheme or artifice to defraud. 18 U.S.C. § 2314. Proof of mail or wire fraud was also necessary to obtain a conviction for money imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both. For purposes of this paragraph, a financial transaction shall be considered to be one involving the proceeds of specified unlawful activity if it is part of a set of parallel or dependent transactions, any one of which involves the proceeds of specified unlawful activity, and all of which are part of a single plan or arrangement. 62 In relevant part, the concealment money laundering statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(i), provides that: (a) (1) Whoever, knowing that the property involved in a financial transaction represents the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, conducts or attempts to conduct such a financial transaction which in fact involves the proceeds of specified unlawful activity— .... (B) knowing that the transaction is designed in whole or in part— (i) to conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of the proceeds of specified unlawful activity . . . .... shall be sentenced to a fine of not more than $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater, or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both. For purposes of this paragraph, a financial transaction shall be considered to be one involving the proceeds of specified unlawful activity if it is part of a set of parallel or dependent transactions, any one of which involves the proceeds of specified unlawful activity, and all of which are part of a single plan or arrangement. 33 laundering because that offense—whether promotional money laundering or concealment money laundering—prohibits financial transactions involving the proceeds of “unlawful activity,” a defined term that includes both mail and wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956(c)(7)(A) and 1961(1)(B).63 c. As charged, proof of mail or wire fraud was likewise necessary to sustain the convictions for failure to disclose a foreign financial interest, 31 U.S.C. §§ 5314, 5322(b). Section 5314 charges the United States Secretary of the Treasury with requiring United States taxpayers to keep records pertaining to financial transactions with foreign agencies, 31 U.S.C. § 5314(a), and with prescribing regulations pertaining to the keeping of those records, 31 U.S.C. § 5314(b), and their disclosure, 31 U.S.C. § 5314©). Section 5322(b) imposes criminal penalties on any individual who willfully violates the Secretary’s regulations “while [also] violating another law of the United States or as part of a pattern of illegal activity involving more than $100,000 in a 12-month period.” At trial, the Government argued that the Bradleys had failed to disclose their interests in a foreign financial institution in violation of regulations prescribed pursuant to § 5314 while also 63 The money laundering statute’s definition of “unlawful activity,” 18 U.S.C. § 1956(c)(7)(A), expressly incorporates the RICO statute’s list of predicate acts, 18 U.S.C. § 1961(1)(B), which includes both mail and wire fraud. 34 committing mail and wire fraud and as a part of a pattern of illegal, racketeering activity, which, as stated supra, consisted solely of mail and wire fraud and other acts predicated on a scheme to defraud. Without proof of mail or wire fraud, then, the Government could not prove its case, as alleged in the indictment, under § 5322(b). 2. The evidence against the Bradleys and Bio-Med was sufficient to prove that they engaged in a scheme to defraud Florida Medicaid, Medi-Cal, and GHPP. As such, we affirm the jury’s verdicts and the district court’s denial of the defendants’ motions for judgments of acquittal on both schemes. In sum, we hold that a reasonable jury could have found the following. Florida Medicaid, Medi-Cal, and GHPP never intended to reimburse for recycled blood-derivatives that had been previously dispensed. For that reason, the programs had policies that indicated as much to any reasonable observer. The Bradleys and Bio-Med knew of these policies. Despite knowing that the programs would not knowingly pay for recycled blood-derivatives—and that Medicaid patients would eventually receive the lion’s share of the IVIG and Recombinate sold by Bio-Med—the Bradleys and Bio-Med, with the help of several compatriots, purchased recycled medications at discount prices from 35 complicit physicians and patients with the intent to resell them for a significant profit. To ensure that they were not found out, these defendants went to great lengths to disguise the fact that those drugs had been recycled. And once in possession of blood-derivatives they knew to be recycled, the defendants intentionally sold them off, at full wholesale prices, to pharmacies—including Infustat and Seratech, which dealt almost exclusively with Medicaid patients—that billed the Medicaid programs as if the blood-derivatives had never been recycled. The Bradleys’ and Bio-Med’s practice thus induced Florida Medicaid, Medi-Cal, and GHPP to reimburse for drugs, often for a second time, when the programs otherwise would have refused. The evidence presented at trial is far too expansive to catalogue in any detail, so the following is but a brief and incomplete summary of the relevant testimony. We begin with the evidence concerning the Florida Medicaid Scheme and the evidence regarding Medi-Cal and GHPP. We then confront the defendants’ legal arguments as to the sufficiency of that evidence. a. Jerry Wells, the Bureau Chief of Pharmacy Services for Florida Medicaid, testified that the program’s “policies”64 require medication to have been dispensed 64 We refer in this opinion to certain “policies” of the Medicaid programs. These policies can be, in some cases, express—written and promulgated—and, in others, 36 to a patient before the dispensing pharmacy is reimbursed. Wells explained that Florida Medicaid does allow pharmacies to deliver blood-derivatives directly to a doctor’s office or to the patient for home-infusion, but that the patient must receive the medication before the pharmacy can submit a reimbursement request—in other words, that the patient should be at the doctor’s office when the pharmacy delivers the medication. If the patient is not at the doctor’s office to receive the blood- derivative, the pharmacy is supposed to put the medication back in stock and “reverse” the charges to Florida Medicaid—that is, to credit Florida Medicaid with the value of the blood-derivatives. According to Wells, Medicaid would not knowingly pay for a blood-derivative that had been “dropped-off” at a doctor’s office without some showing that the medication had actually been given to the patient for whom it had been prescribed.65 What we take, and what the jury presumably took, from Wells’s testimony is that once a medication is marked as dispensed and reimbursement is paid for it, Medicaid considers the medication administered to the patient for whom it was implied—known to those in the health-care industry—but are nonetheless clearly established. As such, we do not distinguish between promulgated and non-promulgated policies. It is for this reason that we disagree with Bio-Med’s contention that it was permitted to resell recycled blood-derivatives in the absence of an express written regulation forbidding it. If Bio-Med knew that its conduct would cause the Medicaid programs to reimburse for medication they did not intend to cover, that was enough. 65 This is an example of so-called “drop-off dispensing.” Wells testified that “drop-off dispensing” is not permitted pursuant to Medicaid rules. 37 dispensed and would not reimburse for it a second time. It was therefore reasonable for the jury to draw from Wells’s testimony that Florida Medicaid intended to pay for blood-derivatives once, and only once, and that causing Florida Medicaid to reimburse twice for medications that had been marked as dispensed, and for which reimbursement had already been paid, was nothing other than fraudulent. Wells himself stated as much, if not in those exact words: Q. Does Florida Medicaid pay for the same drug twice? A. Only in fraudulent situations. Q. Unknowingly? A. Unknowingly. Q. Does Florida Medicaid pay for a drug that has never been administered to a patient? A. Only unknowingly. It was also reasonable for the jury to find, based on the testimony of several witnesses, that the Bradleys, Bio-Med employees, and related associates for whom the Bradleys and Bio-Med were responsible knew Florida Medicaid would not, absent misdirection, reimburse a second time for a blood-derivative that had not actually been administered to the patient the first time around. Several of the participants in the Florida Medicaid scheme, namely Dr. Cadigan and his nurse, testified that they were told by Tellechea that he would purchase IVIG from them if they stockpiled the medication whenever a patient did not appear. Most, but not all, of those patients, Tellechea knew, were covered by Florida Medicaid. As a 38 prerequisite to stockpiling those blood-derivatives, Dr. Cadigan and his nurse forged patient signatures on documents provided to them by Tellechea, and which Tellechea required them to have completed. From that testimony, the jury could have inferred that Tellechea knew Florida Medicaid intended that all dispensed medication be used by patients and not recycled for resale; otherwise, why would Florida Medicaid require patient signatures, and why would Tellechea have Dr. Cadigan’s associate forge those signatures? Once it found that Tellechea knew that Florida Medicaid would not reimburse a second time for blood-derivatives the program considered used by patients, a reasonable jury could have taken the next step and inferred that the Bradleys, and thus Bio-Med, knew as well. First, the evidence established that Bio-Med was a leader in the prescription pharmaceutical industry. Bradley III, as CEO of Bio-Med, consequently had reason to know how Medicaid reimbursed the pharmacies he supplied. Moreover, Bradley III and Tellechea were business partners, and Tellechea sold Bio-Med the IVIG he collected from Dr. Cadigan. It seems reasonable to believe that, even if he did not know of the Medicaid policy on his own, Bradley III would have learned of it through Tellechea. The defendants’ attempts to forge and obscure the drugs’ pedigree provides additional circumstantial evidence that Bradley III and Bio-Med knew that Florida 39 Medicaid would not pay for recycled drugs. Witness testimony established that Bradley III and his associates worked out a means of obscuring the pedigree associated with the IVIG they obtained from Dr. Cadigan and others. For example, Bossey testified that he received IVIG from Tellechea and others that was supposed to be “administered to patients but . . . never received [by] them. They were [instead] given to me.”66 Worried that inspectors might ask him where he obtained the medication, Bossey approached Bradley III about his concerns. Bradley III responded by having Bossey invoice IVIG to Intermed in Savannah instead of directly to Bio-Med in Miami; Bossey understood that Bradley III structured the transactions in this way because inspectors from Georgia would not be able to trace the pedigree back to Bossey once Bio-Med purchased the IVIG from Intermed. Bossey also testified to Bradley III’s desire to directly mislead Florida pharmaceutical inspectors. According to Bossey, Bradley III asked him to halve the amount of IVIG listed on the invoices and double the price; this, said Bossey, made the transaction look legitimate, as the abnormally low price might have drawn the inspector’s “attention.” Moreover, Bossey testified that Bradley III told 66 Bossey testified that he and Bradley III shared a joke about the source of the IVIG. Bossey told the jury that he invoiced the medication to “BM,” which stood for both Bio-Med and, in the joke, “black market.” Larry Pinkoff, another prosecution witness, testified that Bradley III was aware that the blood-derivatives Bio-Med was buying were “street” drugs. 40 him to be on the lookout for control numbers written with invisible ink that would allow inspectors to trace IVIG originating at Bio-Med back to Bio-Med. Marty Bradley warned me, he said, “listen, if you get any boxes of IVIG from your sources, make sure that you look at the bottom of the box to see with a black light or if you -- shift the box in light, you’ll be able to see the indentations from the pen that there are control numbers. If there are control numbers on the product, that means that I cannot take them back, so be careful.” Bossey’s testimony was largely corroborated by Castro67 and Pascual,68 both of whom testified that Bradley III instructed them to structure transactions of recycled medication to confuse the pedigree.69 Also, Susan Bryan, a former Bio- Med employee, testified that the IVIG Bio-Med obtained was known as “ASS” 67 Castro testified that he recruited doctors who primarily served patients covered by Florida Medicaid. He also testified that specific IVIG sold by Bio-Med to Infustat was repurchased by Bio-Med after it was supposedly distributed to a patient; he personally sold IVIG matching that description to Bradley III. Finally, Castro testified that Florida Medicaid, to his knowledge, actually paid twice for the same IVIG. 68 In relevant part, Pascual testified that she obtained IVIG from an individual who sold the medication out of the bed of his truck without pedigree and who never provided her an account of where he had obtained the IVIG. As related supra, Bradley III instructed her to falsely indicate that pedigree had been established as to that IVIG. A reasonable jury could have found that Bradley III’s instruction, repeated by his secretary, demonstrated his knowledge that he was not permitted to resell Pascual’s recycled IVIG to pharmacies pursuant to Florida Medicaid policy. 69 Unlike Bio-Med, we do not find it legally significant that the pedigree requirements were not being enforced at the time Bradley III instructed Pascual and possibly Bossey to include statements on invoices they submitted to Bio-Med implying pedigree had been established. Whether or not the Bradleys’ failure to maintain acceptable pedigree papers under the PDMA, 21 U.S.C. § 353(e)(1)(A), was grounds for punitive regulatory action, the false invoices still constitute evidence that Bradley III and Bio-Med knew of Florida Medicaid’s policies and were attempting to subvert them. 41 product because “it was [Bradley III’s] ASS if he got caught selling it.” Moreover, the Government presented evidence from which a reasonable jury could have inferred that Bradley, Jr., was aware that some portion of Bio-Med products was obtained by, in his words, “fraud.” Smith, one of the Apex Partners, testified that, at a meeting in California between the Apex Partners and the Bradleys to discuss payment methods—the Apex Partners had trouble cashing “that many checks”—Bradley, Jr., “kind of yelled out, you guys are talking about insurance fraud, you’re all going to end up in the big house and this has to stop right now.” The jury could have inferred from this statement that Bradley, Jr., understood that Bio-Med’s recycling business violated Medicaid rules. Finally, the evidence was sufficient to show that the Bradleys, Bio-Med, and their associates knew the IVIG they had received, or a portion of that IVIG, would again be distributed to Medicaid patients and billed to the state program. Bio-Med sold IVIG to its related pharmacies, Infustat and Seratech, both of which Bio-Med knew primarily catered to Florida Medicaid patients. And, even when Bio-Med sold to outside pharmacies, the nature of the blood-derivative business made it inevitable that Bio-Med’s recycled IVIG would be dispensed to patients covered by the program. From all this, a reasonable jury could have understood the evidence to prove 42 that the Bradleys and Bio-Med knew Florida Medicaid would not have reimbursed for IVIG sold by Bio-Med had it known where Bio-Med had obtained the medication. Thus, it was reasonable to believe that, by failing to inform the program of the IVIG’s source and/or by concealing that source, these defendants knowingly caused Florida Medicaid to reimburse for medication the program did not intend to cover.70 b. The evidence was likewise sufficient as to Medi-Cal and GHPP. Douglas Hillbloom, a former employee in the Department of Health Services, testified that “[t]he [California] Board of Pharmacy would not allow medication once [it] had been dispensed to a patient to be returned.” This was, he said, because “[o]nce it leaves the control of the pharmacy, it was not under the control of the pharmacy or a Board of Pharmacy regulation regarding storage.” Thus, at that time in California, once blood-derivatives such as Recombinate had been dispensed to a patient, Medi-Cal and GHPP assumed they would be used—if unused, the medication was to be thrown out or disposed of, but “technically” should be 70 We also do not find it legally significant that the Government failed to prove that Bio- Med’s recycled IVIG was dangerous to patients or otherwise less effective than traditionally obtained IVIG. If Florida Medicaid did not intend to reimburse for the recycled blood- derivatives sold by Bio-Med, it does not matter if those blood-derivatives were otherwise perfectly safe. 43 destroyed.71 Hillbloom went on to distinguish the recycling of dispensed Recombinate from the legitimate market in prescription medication “secondary sales,”72 and to explain that Medi-Cal never intended to reimburse for recycled Recombinate. Following Hilbloom was Harry Fry, an employee with GHPP, who testified that, much like Medi-Cal, GHPP would not “allow payment of drugs for use by anyone else but the person to whom it was dispensed.” In other words, just like Medi-Cal, once blood-derivatives like Recombinate had been dispensed to a patient, GHPP assumed they had either been used or destroyed by that patient. Knowledge of Medi-Cal’s and GHPP’s policies was widespread. Other industry representatives testified that it was well known that the California programs did not expect to reimburse for previously dispensed medication. David Roy, the Director of Client Services at American Home Care Federation, a 71 The defendants contend that no such written policy existed. Again, as we previously stated, the existence of a promulgated policy is immaterial so long as the parties involved knew that Medi-Cal and GHPP considered dispensed medication to have been used and would not reimburse for that medication a second time. There is sufficient evidence in the record before us that such a policy existed and that the Bradleys and Bio-Med were aware of that policy. 72 The secondary sales market includes, but is not limited to, swaps and sales of blood- derivatives amongst wholesalers, repackagers, and pharmacies. See supra notes 14 (defining recycling) and 25 (explaining the use of pedigree papers to trace medication from manufacturer through end user). 44 specialty “home-infusion pharmacy,”73 explained that he believed it was “against the law” to recycle dispensed medication and stated that he would not have dispensed recycled medication had he been informed of its status. And Lawrence Guiheen, President of Biopharmaceuticals for Baxter Healthcare, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, similarly testified that neither his company, manufacturers generally, or pharmacies were allowed under California pharmacy regulations to accept returned medications once they had been dispensed to patients. From this testimony, a reasonable jury could have found that Medi-Cal and GHPP had policies against reimbursing for recycled medication. Furthermore, the evidence showed that Bio-Med, through Bradley III, knew of that policy and ignored it. Bradley III was an experienced professional in the prescription pharmaceutical business and presumably had the same information about Medi-Cal and GHPP’s policies as the industry insiders who testified at trial. Intermed’s invoices also suggested this knowledge; a sentence on the invoices stated that all sales were final—that is, that blood-derivatives could not be returned. Furthermore, Tamiyasu and Williams, two of the Apex partners, both of whom were involved in the California Medicaid Scheme, each testified that Bradley III was aware that Medi-Cal and GHPP would not allow recycled Recombinate to be 73 A home-infusion pharmacy is a closed door pharmacy that provides its patients with access to medical personnel and equipment if necessary to complete the infusion process. 45 resold if the programs ever became aware that the medication had already been dispensed to a patient. A reasonable jury could also have found that Medi-Cal and GHPP actually paid a second time for medications Bio-Med purchased from patients. First, there was testimony that, on at least one occasion, a vial of Recombinate was repurchased from a patient and eventually dispensed a second time with the original patient’s label still attached.74 Finally, Lawrence Guiheen testified that Medi-Cal and his company, Baxter Healthcare, discovered that Medi-Cal had reimbursed for more Recombinate than Baxter had produced, something Guiheen 74 Williams testified to this point, but could not be sure that the Recombinate was purchased by Bio-Med. His testimony, in relevant part, was as follows: Q. When you were buying product back from the patient, did the label stay on it? A. One time it did. Q. Describe that. A. Well, someone had sold factor back to me. And I had passed it on to either Jon [Tamiyasu] or Kelly [Smith] with the label still attached. And I passed it on to Jon and Kelly and they had apparently counted [the vial of Recombinate] with a number of other vials. I neglected to pull -- the customer neglected to pull the label off. I neglected to pull the label off. Furthermore, my partners forgot to pull the label off. And I don’t know if it went to Bio-Med and came back. At any rate it came back, and ultimately got back to the pharmacy with that same label. Q. Was that product that was billed to Medicaid? A. Yes, I believe so. Even though Williams could not positively state that the Recombinate was purchased by Bio- Med, given his testimony it would have been reasonable for the jury to find that Bio-Med had caused Medi-Cal or GHPP, or both, to reimburse twice for the same medication at some time or another. 46 originally attributed to an accounting mistake, but later understood to have been caused by the product “being resold” or a similar “illegal” act. It was therefore reasonable for this jury to believe that, just like Florida Medicaid, Medi-Cal and GHPP reimbursed for blood-derivatives a second time, in violation of their policies, and that the Bradleys, Bio-Med, and their associates caused or participated in the offending scheme. That the Bradleys and Bio-Med actually consummated their schemes only strengthens the inference that the defendants intended to participate in a fraud. See Maxwell, 579 F.3d at 1301 (permitting the jury to infer an intent to defraud when a defendant completes the fraudulent act). And the disproportionate profits the Bradleys and Bio-Med realized from their schemes again reinforces the jury verdict. See Naranjo, 634 F.3d at 1208 (permitting the jury to infer an intent to defraud based on the amount of profit realized from a scheme). Accordingly, under the mail and wire fraud statutes’ definition of a scheme or artifice to defraud, the defendants’ conduct in both cases was fraudulent. c. The Bradleys and Bio-Med advance two arguments against this conclusion. First, as discussed supra, they contend that the programs had no policies against reimbursing for recycled drugs, or, alternatively, that they were unaware of those 47 policies. The defendants claim that the trial testimony provided by Florida Medicaid, Medi-Cal, and GHPP representatives, and the testimony of industry experts, was merely a post-hoc attempt imply that such policies had existed. In the absence of an applicable policy, the defendants conclude they could not have defrauded the programs because the programs would have paid for the drugs even if they knew the drugs were recycled. This argument has two flaws, one factual and one theoretical. Factually, the trial testimony established that such policies did exist and that the defendants knew of them. Indeed, if the defendants thought that the programs would pay for recycled drugs, why did they go to such great lengths to conceal the fact that the medications had been recycled?75 Theoretically, even if the policies had of existed, the defendants still committed fraud; the defendants’ belief that the programs would not pay for recycled drugs—as evidenced by their pains to conceal their nature—is sufficient under the mail and wire fraud statutes. These statutes “punish unexecuted, as well as executed, schemes.” Pelletier, 921 F.2d at 1498. Here, the evidence supports 75 In this regard, it would have been reasonable for the jury to disbelieve Bradley III’s testimony that he never knew of any policies and that he never intended for the Medicaid programs to pay for recycled IVIG and Recombinate contrary to those policies. See United States v. Mateos, 623 F.3d 1350, 1362 (11th Cir. 2010) (“A defendant who chooses to testify runs the risk that the jury will disbelieve her testimony and ‘runs the risk that if disbelieved the jury might conclude the opposite of [her] testimony is true.’” (quoting United States v. Brown, 53 F.3d 312, 314 (11th Cir. 1995))). 48 the jury’s finding that the defendants intended to take part in a scheme that had, as its purpose, the goal of causing Medicaid programs, by way of misinformation, to reimburse for medications for which they believed the programs did not intend to reimburse. For our purposes, that is enough. See, e.g., Kemp v. Am. Tel. & Tel. Co., 393 F.3d 1354, 1359–60 (11th Cir. 2004) (recognizing a duty to inform customers of certain information where failure to do so would cause the customer to be misled) (citing, inter alia, United States v. Townley, 665 F.2d 579, 585 (5th Cir. 1982) (noting that “under the mail fraud statute, it is just as unlawful to speak ‘half truths’ or to omit to state facts necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading”)); see also Hasson, 333 F.3d at 1270–71 (“A scheme to defraud requires proof of material misrepresentations, or the omission or concealment of material facts, . . ., reasonably calculated to deceive . . . .” (citing Neder v. United States, 527 U.S. 1, 25, 119 S. Ct. 1827, 1841, 144 L. Ed. 2d 35 (1999))); Langford v. Rite Aid of Ala., Inc., 231 F.3d 1308, 1312 (11th Cir. 2000) (“Intent to defraud need not be shown through active misrepresentation—material omissions can be fraudulent if they are intended to create a false impression.”). As for their second argument, the Bradleys and Bio-Med argue that, even assuming that their conduct was fraudulent, United States v. Medina, 485 F.3d 49 1291 (11th Cir. 2007), required the Government to precisely trace the recycled prescriptions to show that Florida Medicaid, Medi-Cal, and GHPP paid twice for at least one specific dose of recycled drugs. This argument fails as well. In Medina, we reversed one defendant’s conviction under the health care fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1347,76 because the Government failed to prove that the defendants engaged in transactions with the necessary intent to defraud. At trial, the Government’s sole evidence proving this point consisted of testimony by a law enforcement officer regarding the defendant’s “general practice” of billing Medicare for traditionally manufactured medications while providing instead “a ‘compounded’ medication . . . mixed in the pharmacy.” Medina, 485 F.3d at 1299. That officer did not, however, point to any specific transactions in which the defendants actually sold compounded drugs, but billed for traditionally manufactured medication. This omission was fatal to the Government’s case. We explained that, to provide sufficient evidence of health care fraud, the Government 76 Title 18, section 1347, of the United States Code provides that: Whoever knowingly and willfully executes, or attempts to execute, a scheme or artifice— (1) to defraud any health care benefit program; or (2) to obtain, by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, any of the money or property owned by, or under the custody or control of, any health care benefit program, in connection with the delivery of or payment for health care benefits, items, or services, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both. 50 had to “present some evidence that at least one specific patient received compounded medication when [the pharmacy] billed Medicare for manufactured medication.” Id. at 1299–1300 (emphasis added). The Bradleys and Bio-Med stretch Medina’s holding one step further. Combining Medina’s holding with case law interpreting a qui tam provision in the False Claims Act (the “FCA”), 31 U.S.C. § 3729,77 they appear to argue that the 77 The Bradleys and Bio-Med quote language from several cases interpreting the FCA for the proposition that the Government had to show exactly which medications Medicaid purchased twice in order to prove fraud. That is incorrect. The FCA provision they cite, 31 U.S.C. § 3729, creates a civil cause of action for any individual who can show that another presented, or caused to be presented, a false claim to the United States. We have held that the purpose of that provision is “to encourage private individuals who are aware of fraud being perpetrated against the government to bring such information forward.” Ragsdale v. Rubbermaid, Inc., 193 F.3d 1235, 1236 n.1 (11th Cir. 1999). For example, in United States ex rel. Clausen v. Lab. Corp. of America, Inc., 290 F.3d 1301 (11th Cir. 2002), we interpreted the FCA to require a private plaintiff to allege that at least one specific claim presented to the government for payment was either fraudulent or relied on a fraudulent record or statement: The False Claims Act does not create liability merely for a health care provider’s disregard of Government regulations or improper internal policies unless, as a result of such acts, the provider knowingly asks the Government to pay amounts it does not owe. Without the presentment of such a claim, while the practices of an entity that provides services to the Government may be unwise or improper, there is simply no actionable damage to the public fisc as required under the False Claims Act. The submission of a claim is thus not, as . . . argued, a “ministerial act,” but the sine qua non of a False Claims Act violation. 290 F.3d at 1311 (citations omitted) (emphasis in original). Because the relator failed to allege with specificity which claims were fraudulent, we affirmed the dismissal of the FCA action. Id. at 1311–12. Put another way, we held in Clausen that the making of a claim for reimbursement is the operative act which violates the FCA, and that, in order to survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must provide more than conclusory allegations that a false claim—one based on a false representation—was made. See id. at 1311. Construing Clausen, as well as persuasive authority from our sister circuits, the Bradleys and Bio-Med correctly note that successful prosecution of an FCA claim requires proof that an 51 Government must prove that the same dose of the relevant medication was actually paid for twice. This would require, for example, the Government to trace the specific path of a specific vial of IVIG or Recombinate, including: (1) evidence of the first transaction, when a doctor fills a prescription for a patient who never receives or uses the drug; (2) proof of reimbursement by a Medicaid program; (3) proof that Bio-Med obtained the unused medication from the doctor or the patient, which requires the Government to trace the medication from its source through any intermediary stops at MedPoint, Intermed, or Apex; (4) evidence that Bio-Med resold that specific blood-derivative to another pharmacy; and (5) proof that a Medicaid program reimbursed for the medication a second time. In making this second argument, the defendants go too far. Medina merely requires the Government to present some evidence of a fraudulent scheme; it holds that conclusory statements regarding “general practices”—as opposed to evidence that the defendants conducted transactions that involved recycled medications—do individual claim was false when filed. And the Bradleys and Bio-Med are correct that the FCA is an anti-fraud statute. However, they go too far when, comparing this case to those construing the FCA, they claim that the Government is bound to present evidence that individual medications were recycled. While the FCA is an anti-fraud statute, its focus is, as the title suggests, on the actual submission of a claim. The mail and wire fraud statutes, on the other hand, focus their attention on the use of a misrepresentation to obtain money that is not owed. It is for that reason that when we interpret the FCA, evidence of a false representation is not sufficient; the plaintiff must produce evidence that the false representation was included as part of a specific claim and thus evidence of the claim itself. See, e.g., Clausen, 290 F.3d 1311–12. In a fraud case, proof of intent to defraud will suffice. The FCA cases, therefore, are simply not on point. 52 not suffice. As summarized above, the Government’s evidence in this case went far beyond conclusory statements; the Government presented evidence to the jury that the Bradleys and Bio-Med made payments for unused drugs, laundered those drugs to make it appear as if they were new, and then resold those drugs in a manner that made it certain that the programs would pay for recycled drugs. 3. To summarize, a reasonable jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that the recycling schemes in which the Bradleys and Bio-Med engaged were fraudulent. Having reached that finding, the jury had an evidentiary basis for the verdicts it returned against the Bradleys and Bio-Med.78 B. Bradley III, Bio-Med, and Tellechea were convicted on Count 3 of a duel- object conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. The conspiracy’s first object was the scheme to defraud Florida Medicaid by wire, by causing the program to 78 To be more specific, we find sufficient evidence to sustain Bradley III’s Count 1 conviction on racketeering acts 1 through 87, 185 through 202, 251, and 253. See Browne, 505 F.3d at 1261 (holding that only two qualifying predicate acts are necessary to sustain a RICO conviction). We do not reach the sufficiency of the evidence as to the remaining acts found by the jury, all of which relate to diversion schemes. We also find sufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdict on Counts 2 through 284. See supra part II.A.1. Likewise, we find sufficient evidence to sustain Bradley, Jr.’s Count 1 conviction on all the acts found by the jury, his Count 54 conviction, and his Counts 285 and 286 convictions. We further find sufficient evidence to sustain Bio-Med’s Count 1 conviction on racketeering acts 1 through 87 and 185 through 202. We also uphold Bio-Med’s convictions on Counts 2 through 53. 53 pay more than once for a vial of recycled, unused IVIG, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343. The second object was to pay illegal kickbacks to physicians for sending their IVIG prescriptions to Bradley-owned closed-door pharmacies, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b)(2)(B).79 The jury’s verdict on Count 3 does not indicate which object(s) the defendants committed. The evidence was obviously sufficient to convict Bradley III and Bio-Med for conspiring to accomplish both objects. Whether the evidence was sufficient to convict Tellechea of the first object, however, is problematic, for the jury found him not guilty on Counts 1 and 4 through 32, which charged him (along with Bradley III, Bio-Med, and others) with committing the wire fraud described in that object. We nonetheless affirm Tellechea’s Count 3 conviction because the evidence established not only that he conspired to pay the alleged kickbacks, but that he actually paid them. United 79 The anti-kickback provisions of 42 U.S.C. § 1302a-7b(b)(2)(B) read as follows: b) Illegal remunerations .... (2) Whoever knowingly and willfully offers or pays any remuneration (including any kickback, bribe, or rebate) directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind to any person to induce such person— .... (B) to purchase, lease, order, or arrange for or recommend purchasing, leasing, or ordering any good, facility, service, or item for which payment may be made in whole or in part under a Federal health care program, shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $25,000 or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both. 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b)(2)(B). 54 States v. Hernandez, 141 F.3d 1042, 1051 (11th Cir. 1998) (citing Griffin v. United States, 502 U.S. 46, 58, 112 S.Ct. 466, 473–74, 116 L.Ed.2d 371 (1991), and United States v. Ross, 131 F.3d 970, 983 (11th Cir.1997) (“A guilty verdict in a multi-object conspiracy will be upheld if the evidence is sufficient to support a conviction of any of the alleged objects.”)). C. After the jury returned its verdicts, Bradley III moved the district court for a judgment of acquittal on Count 284, and Tellechea moved the court for a judgment of acquittal on Count 3. Both motions argued that venue had been improperly laid in the Southern District of Georgia. The district court disagreed and denied their motions. Bradley III and Tellechea now challenge the court’s rulings.80 Those rulings must stand if the Government established venue by a preponderance of the evidence. United States v. Breitweiser, 357 F.3d 1249, 1253 80 The Government contends that Tellechea waived his venue challenge because it was untimely. We disagree. Tellechea moved the district court pretrial to transfer his case to the Southern District of Florida on the ground that venue in the Southern District of Georgia was improper. The court denied his motion, concluding that the superceding indictment alleged facts sufficient to establish venue in the Southern District of Georgia and that venue there was not unduly burdensome. At the same time, the court gave him leave to move to dismiss the case based on venue at the close of the Government’s case. Tellechea did so unsuccessfully. Then, after the jury returned its verdicts, he moved the court for judgment of acquittal on Count 3 on the venue ground. The motion to dismiss at the close of the Government’s case and the motion for judgment of acquittal were timely. See United States v. Daniels, 5 F.3d 495, 496 (11th Cir. 1993) (“[W]hen an indictment contains a proper allegation of venue so that a defendant has no notice of a defect in venue until the Government rests its case, the objection is timely if made at the close of the evidence.” (internal quotation marks and citation removed)). 55 (11th Cir. 2004). We determine de novo whether the Government met this standard, “viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government and making all reasonable inferences and credibility choices in favor of the jury verdict.” United States v. Stickle, 454 F.3d 1265, 1270 (11th Cir. 2006). 1. Count 284 alleged that Bradley III failed to disclose an interest in a foreign financial account while committing mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, in violation of 31 U.S.C. §§ 5314 and 5322(b). Section 5314 authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to require a taxpayer to keep records and file reports “when th[at] resident, citizen, or person makes a transaction or maintains a relation for any person with a foreign financial institution.” 31 U.S.C. § 5314(a). The Secretary has exercised that authority by requiring all persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to disclose whether they have “an interest in, or a signature or other authority over, a bank, securities or other financial account in a foreign country.” 31 C.F.R. § 103.24(a). If a person owns such an account, he is obligated by 31 C.F.R. § 103.24 to file Form 90-22.1 with “the Commission of the Internal Revenue.” That form instructs the person that the filing may be accomplished “by mailing this report to the Department of the Treasury . . . or by hand-carrying it to any local office of the Internal Revenue Service for forwarding 56 to the Department of the Treasury” in Detroit, Michigan. Section 5322(b) prescribes criminal penalties for any person who “willfully” violates § 5314 by failing to disclose a financial interest in a foreign financial institution while also “violating another law of the United States or as part of a pattern of any illegal activity involving more than $100,000 in a 12-month period.” 31 U.S.C. § 5322(b). Count 284 alleged that, during calendar year 1999, Bradley III had such a financial interest in a bank account that had an aggregate value of over $2,000,000 and that he willfully failed to report this while committing mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering as part of a pattern of illegal activity. Venue, in a criminal case, is constitutionally proper only in the district where the crime was committed. U.S. Const. art. III, § 2, cl. 3; U.S. Const. amend VI. The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure echo that sentiment: “Unless a statute or these rules permit otherwise, the government must prosecute an offense in a district where the offense was committed.” Fed. R. Crim. P. 18. In the venue context, the failure to perform a legally required act occurs where the act is supposed to be performed. United States v. DiJames, 731 F.2d 758, 762 (11th Cir. 1984) (citing Johnston v. United States, 351 U.S. 215, 220, 76 S. Ct. 739, 742, 100 L. Ed. 1097 (1956)). Failure to file a mandatory report is therefore committed in the district or districts where the report is to be filed. See, e.g., United States v. 57 Quimby, 636 F.2d 86, 90 (5th Cir. 1981); see also United States v. Clines, 958 F.2d 578, 583 (4th Cir. 1992) (citing United States v. Garman, 748 F.2d 218, 220–21 (4th Cir. 1984)). Because there is no dispute that Bradley III had a qualifying interest in a foreign financial institution under 31 U.S.C. § 5314, he was required under the applicable regulation to disclose that interest on his tax return and file a form with the IRS. The form in question, Form 90-22.1, could be filed either by mailing it to the IRS in Detroit, Michigan, or by hand-delivering it to any local IRS office. Bradley III claims that, because he never delivered the form as required, venue was properly laid only in Detroit (the Eastern District of Michigan) or his district of residence (the Southern District of Florida). Relying upon the Fourth Circuit’s reasoning in Clines, the Government answers that the option of filing Form 90- 22.1 in “any local office” was sufficient to establish venue in the Southern District of Georgia. The Government’s reliance on Clines is not misplaced. There, facing seemingly identical circumstances, the Fourth Circuit determined that venue was properly laid in the district where Clines’s tax returns were prepared. Clines, 958 F.2d at 583. The court’s opinion was, as here, based on the “any local office” provision of Form 90-22.1. Id. at 584. Dismissing Clines’s worries that its ruling 58 would create unlimited venue possibilities, the court noted that it saw “no evidence that the Government engaged in forum shopping,” id. at 583 n.3, and reasoned that its “conclusion is consistent with the principal concern the courts have advanced as underlying the constitutional venue provisions,” id. at 583. As such, the Fourth Circuit came to the conclusion that “venue in [the District of Maryland] did not impermissibly offend Clines’s rights guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment.” Id. at 584. Likewise, the possibility that Bradley III would have filed the form in the Southern District of Georgia, the district where his returns were prepared and home to a local IRS office,81 was sufficient to establish venue in that district. Form 90- 22.1 permits filing in “any local office,” meaning that there is no absolute requirement that it be filed in any particular place; the sole requirement is that it be filed somewhere. Thus, for purposes of venue, the form is “required” to be filed in any and every district that houses a local IRS office. So long as its choice does not create a constitutional hardship,82 the Government may choose, from among those 81 We take judicial notice that Savannah is home to a local IRS office. See Fed. R. Evid. 201(b) (permitting courts to take judicial notice of facts known within the court’s jurisdiction and which are easily identifiable). 82 Presumably, the Government may choose any district that would not be unfair to the defendant or create a hardship. See United States v. Clines, 958 F.2d 578, 583 (4th Cir. 1992) (citing United States v. Cores, 356 U.S. 405, 407, 78 S. Ct. 875, 877, 2 L. Ed. 2d 873 (1958)). Other considerations might include the location of witnesses and evidence. See Cores, 356 U.S. at 407, 78 S. Ct. at 877. As Bradley III cannot establish that venue was improper in the Southern 59 districts, one where it is most convenient to pursue an indictment. See id. Here, the district court determined that the district was not inconvenient to Bradley III. We agree and further find that the Southern District of Georgia did not create a constitutional hardship. As such, we hold that venue was properly laid in the Southern District of Georgia and that the district court did not err in denying Bradley III’s motion for a judgment of acquittal. Finally, as a conceptual matter, Bradley III’s interpretation is far too restrictive. He would have this court decide that, as a constitutional matter, a defendant could dictate venue by failing to file the very form he was required to submit. The implication of Bradley III’s position is that he could defeat jurisdicition in any district other than the two he has previously named by proclaiming he never would have submitted the form there. That simply cannot be the case. District of Georgia as to Counts 1 through 283, he cannot establish that venue on Count 284 was constitutionally inconvenient. Moreover, in its order denying the defendants’ pretrial joint motion to transfer venue to the Southern District of Florida, the district court analyzed the factors set out in Platt v. Minnesota Mining Co., 376 U.S. 240, 84 S. Ct. 769, 11 L. Ed. 2d 674 (1964), and held that “[b]oth judicial and litigant economies” favored “venue here in the Southern District of Georgia.” As for Bradley III, the court noted that he had “significant family ties to Savannah” and that he could easily operate his business there. The court tempered those findings with the realization that Bradley III lived and worked in Miami and that his wife had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. Nevertheless, the court satisfied itself that the Government’s witnesses and the defendants’ lawyer could easily reach the city, that all of the Government’s documentary evidence was stored nearby, and that the court’s docket was sufficiently clear to handle such a “mega-trial.” 60 2. Tellechea argues that venue for Count 3 was improperly laid in the Southern District of Geogia. Count 3 listed two sets of overt acts the conspirators allegedly committed in furtherance of the two objects of the conspiracy: (1) the execution of a scheme to defraud Florida Medicaid; and (2) the payment of illegal kickbacks to Florida physicians for having their prescriptions for IVIG filled at Bradley-owned closed-door pharmacies. The first set of overt acts involved twenty-nine wire transfers from Intermed in Savannah to MedPoint in Miami. The second set included a number of cash payments Tellechea and other conspirators made to physicians in Miami in exchange for prescription referrals. While Tellechea concedes that venue in the Southern District of Georgia was likely appropriate as to the first object of the conspiracy, he contends it was not as to the second object. And since he construes the jury’s verdict on Count 3 to rest on the latter object, which was to be accomplished in Miami, he believes the verdict cannot stand. As we stated above, venue is constitutionally and statutorily proper only in the district where the offense has been committed. U.S. Const. art. III, § 2, cl. 3; U.S. Const. amend VI; Fed. R. Crim. P. 18. But in an action involving a conspiracy, as with all continuing offenses under 18 U.S.C. § 3237(a),83 the offense 83 Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3237(a), “any offense against the United States begun in one district and completed in another, or committed in more than one district, may be inquired of and 61 has been committed in any district where any overt act was performed in furtherance of the conspiracy. United States v. Matthews, 168 F.3d 1234, 1246 (11th Cir. 1999). “Evidence of venue need not be direct; when circumstantial evidence as a whole reasonably supports the inference that the crime was committed in the trial district, the government’s burden is satisfied.” United States v. Rivamonte, 666 F.2d 515, 517 (11th Cir. 1982) (citations omitted). Tellechea’s venue challenge is twofold. First, he argues that, because the jury was instructed that it could find a defendant guilty of the Count 3 conspiracy if it found that he had conspired to commit either of the conspiracy’s two objects,84 the Government had to prove venue in the Southern District of Georgia as to both. The Government failed to do this with respect to the first object, he claims, because the jury acquitted him, in Counts 1 and 4 through 32, of participating in a wire fraud scheme to defraud Florida Medicaid. prosecuted in any district in which such was begun, continued, or completed.” 84 The exact text of the relevant jury instruction was as follows: Remember that, as to Count 3, it is not necessary for the Government to prove that the Defendants under consideration willfully conspired to commit both of those substantive offenses. It would be sufficient if the Government proves, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the charged Defendants willfully conspired with someone to commit one of those offenses; but, in that event, in order to return a verdict of guilty, you must unanimously agree upon which of the two offenses the charged Defendants conspired to commit. Tellechea reasons that, because the jury instruction treats the two listed objects as “substantive offenses,” the Constitution demands that venue be established as to both. 62 Extrapolating from the jury’s verdicts on those related counts, Tellechea postulates that the jury could not have convicted him on Count 3 for conspiring to commit wire fraud;85 rather, it had to have found him guilty of conspiring to pay the doctors kickbacks. And since none of the acts in furtherance of the kickback arrangement was committed in the Southern District of Georgia, Tellechea submits that the Government failed to establish venue there. He supports this proposition by pointing out that the only evidence relevant to venue in the Southern District of Georgia and introduced by the Government at trial was a contested showing that the monies illegally paid to the Florida physicians originated in Savannah.86 Suggesting that United States v. Cabrales, 524 U.S. 1, 8, 118 S. Ct. 1772, 1776, 141 L. Ed. 2d 1 (1998), definitively establishes that “the source of the money used to pay the kickbacks is irrelevant to the question of whether the Constitution’s venue requirements are met,” Tellechea argues that venue was lacking and that the district court was bound to grant his motion for judgment of acquittal. Even assuming that Tellechea is correct that the Government was required to establish venue for both objects of the conspiracy and that the jury found him 85 It is not clear that such was the jury’s intent. The jury’s determination that the Government failed to carry its burden as to those substantive charges does not foreclose the possibility that it did carry its burden as to the conspiracy count. 86 Tellechea does not dispute that the wire transfers originated in Savannah, only that the funds were utilized to pay kickbacks to Florida doctors. 63 guilty only of conspiring to pay illegal kickbacks, the district court properly denied Tellechea’s motion for a judgment of acquittal. Tellechea was convicted for his involvement as a conspirator in the recycling scheme. He was therefore vicariously responsible for the acts of any co-conspirator taken in furtherance of that scheme. And in this instance, one of Tellechea’s co-conspirators, Bradley III, used Intermed, a corporation headquartered in the Southern District of Georgia, and Intermed’s bank accounts, also located in that district, as the source of funds necessary to complete the kickback object. Bradley III’s fraudulent use of Intermed’s bank accounts to transfer funds to Tellechea for eventual payment as kickbacks to the Miami doctors—acts for which Bradley III was convicted at trial—thus constituted twenty-nine overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy.87 See United States v. Lewis, 676 F.2d 508, 511 (11th Cir. 1982) (“[W]here a criminal conspirator commits an act in one district which is intended to further a conspiracy by virtue of its effect in another district, the act has been committed in both districts and venue is properly laid in either.”); accord United States v. Strickland, 493 F.2d 182, 187 (5th Cir. 1974) (finding venue proper in the district 87 For this reason, it is immaterial that Tellechea was acquitted of the substantive wire fraud counts. To satisfy the venue requirement, an overt act may be committed by any conspirator, anyone who aids or abets a conspirator, or anyone a conspirator causes to act. See, e.g., United States v. Royer, 549 F.3d 886, 896 (2d Cir. 2008) (finding overt act includes “not just acts by co-conspirators, but also acts that the conspirators caused others to take that materially furthered the ends of the conspiracy”). 64 in which a phone call originated as well as in the district where it was received). Because those acts took place, in relevant part, in the Southern District of Georgia, the district court had venue over both objects of Count 3. We therefore uphold the district court’s denial of Tellechea’s motion for a judgment of acquittal. III. The defendants ask that we reverse their convictions and remand the case for a new trial due to errors the district court purportedly made in rulings pretrial and at trial. In subpart A, we consider the pretrial rulings, in subpart B, those made during the trial. A. The most crucial ruling the district court made pretrial was the denial of the defendants’ motions to suppress evidence seized by federal agents from Bio-Med’s headquarters and server farm, Tellelchea’s private office, and Bradley, Jr.’s residence. Evidence seized during these searches played a significant role in the Government’s case in chief; without it, the Government may have been unable to prove many of the allegations of the superceding indictment, especially the money laundering counts and corresponding acts of racketeering. With the exception of Bio-Med’s computer servers, the searches were conducted pursuant to search warrants issued by federal magistrate judges. We address the merits of the district 65 court’s ruling after recounting the events that led to the issuance of the search warrants and how they were executed. 1. The investigation of the Bradleys’ recycling scheme began in 2001 after agents of the IRS, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) obtained evidence implicating Larry Pinkoff and the Golden Isles Pharmacy (“Golden Isles”) in a recycling scheme similar to the Bradleys’. In exchange for leniency, Pinkoff agreed to cooperate in an ever-widening drug probe of the recycling and diversion of pharmaceuticals, including blood-derivatives. He told investigators that he had sold Bradley III “street” pharmaceuticals in 1996, and that, when Bradley III was unable to pay for them, Bradley, Jr., intervened to pay Bradley III’s debt. Pinkoff then allowed the agents to record three telephone conversations with the Bradleys in which the men discussed the particulars of the Bradleys’ business. Based on Pinkoff’s representations and Bradley III’s recorded statements, the agents asked Pinkoff to arrange a meeting with the Bradleys (the agents would be operating undercover) to discuss the potential sale of a pharmacy the Bradleys’ owned in Puerto Rico.88 Pinkoff did so and introduced the Bradleys to the agents. 88 The Bradleys owned several pharmacies in Puerto Rico, all incorporated under Puerto Rican law. Those pharmacies included, inter alia, Dena, Inc., Delta Med, Inc., and Delta Med 66 Statements made during several meetings held in 2002 convinced the agents that the Bradleys were potentially engaged in illegal activity. After obtaining additional information about the Bradleys’ recycling scheme, the agents applied for warrants to search eight locations. On December 11, 2002, they swore out the necessary affidavits before magistrate judges in four federal districts. The applications were substantially identical,89 each containing an affidavit and multiple attachments. Attached to each application was an identical list of “Items to be seized” designated as “Attachment B”90 and Trading Corp. After Pinkoff expressed interest in founding his own internet pharmacy in Puerto Rico, Bradley III indicated that Pinkoff might be able to use Delta Med, which was at that time a dormant corporation, to do so. 89 In this opinion, we primarily refer to the affidavit executed by Special Agent Pamela Chambers of the FDA filed in support of the application for a warrant to search Bio-Med offices in Miami. Other affidavits were executed by Special Agent Michael Palmer of the IRS and Special Agent Karl Mueller of ICE. 90 In pertinent part, “Attachment B” sought: a. Personal and business records relating to the purchase and sale of prescription pharmaceuticals for the period of 1997 through the present involving MARTIN J. BRADLEY, JR., MARTIN J. BRADLEY, III, JOSE A. TRESPALACIOS, SARA FARLEY GRIFFIN, BIO MED PLUS, INC., SUPER DISCOUNT DRUGS, DENA, INC., INTERMED PHARMACEUTICAL, INC., GOLDEN ISLES PHARMACEUTICALS, INC., INTERMED PHARMACEUTICAL SUPPLY CORP., BEL ASSOCIATES, INC., CARIBE SPECIALTY PHARMACY, DELTA MED TRADING, CARETECH, INTERMED OF PUERTO RICO (a.k.a. INTERMED P.R. SERVICES CORP [sic]), INTERMED GROUP, INTERMED OF SAVANNAH, SERATECH, PRECISION HEATHCARE INC [sic], DAMAR INVESTMENTS, INC., DELTA ENTITIES, INC., THE MARTIN J. BRADLEY FOUNDATION, INC., JERMAR INVESTMENTS, INC., BRITT AIR, INC., and any other unknown corporations and businesses controlled by the BRADLEYs, both 67 domestic and foreign, between individuals, businesses, purchasing groups, organizations, and/or corporate entities. These records shall include, but not be limited to books, records, receipts, notes, ledgers, letters of credit, correspondence, memoranda, mailing envelopes, facsimiles, purchase orders, purchase invoices, purchase agreements/contracts, sales invoices, drug distribution records, drug pedigrees, prescription drug inventory records, licenses, applications, agreements, memberships, shipping records to include, bills of lading, shipping receipts, and any other related papers. .... d. All records of any financial/business transactions involving all individuals and businesses listed in item (a) for the [sic] 1997 through present. These records shall include but not be limited to regular banking records - such as checks, bank statements, deposit tickets, saving or loan account records, wire transfer records, both incoming and outgoing, or any other records relating to investments or loans, assets, or other financial transactions with individuals, partnerships or corporations including notes, memoranda, and agreements evidencing such transactions, copies of cashier’s checks, money orders, or documents used to effect any such type transaction. .... g. Records relating to the operation of personal and corporate bank accounts including checking, savings, trust or brokerage accounts for all individuals and businesses listed in item (a) for 1997 through the present. .... i. Other tangible items evidencing the obtaining, secreting, transfer and/or concealment of assets for all individuals and businesses listed in item (a) for 1997 through the present. .... l. Computers, computer disks, and tapes used to store data. This information includes computer hard drives, diskettes, tapes, or any other media capable of storing information in a form readable by a computer. This also includes all copies that may be maintained as an archive or back up. . .. m. The agents searching for such information are authorized to search any desktop computer, network computer, and/or portable computer in the premises and to copy all above-described information stored on such computer. The search of such computer will be limited to seeking information with respect to specifically named individuals and other information that fits within the above-described description of the items to be seized. n. In the event that the agents cannot, for technical reasons, obtain access to 68 naming four individuals and twenty-two known entities from which the Government sought personal and business records. The Bradleys were specifically named, as were Bio-Med, Intermed, Golden Isles, IPS, and Seratech. All eight warrant applications were approved. The next day, federal agents simultaneously executed the search warrants in a coordinated effort. Agents raided all eight locations, including Bio-Med’s official headquarters and warehouse in Miami, the offices of Infustat and Seratech, Intermed’s headquarters in Savannah, Dena’s office in San Juan, and the residencies of both Bradleys. At Bio-Med’s headquarters, 6855 Southwest 81st Street, the agents seized all business records pertaining to “the purchase or sale of prescription pharmaceuticals” between 1997 and 2002 involving the Bradleys and known or unknown corporations, records of “any financial/business transactions,” and “all receipts and invoices for expenditures made” between the named individuals and entities during that time period. These seizures amounted to virtually all of Bio-Med’s records over that time. Agents also seized computer hard drives at the headquarters location. any subject computer or cannot search for or copy information contained on the computer, the agents are then authorized to seize such computer and remove it to a laboratory setting for a sufficient period of time to obtain access to, search for, and recover files and records described in paragraphs (a) through (k) above. Search Warrant Attach. B, at ¶¶ a, d, g, i, l–n. 69 When the agents inquired about computer servers they expected to f [Text truncated at 120,000 characters. The full text is on the page linked above.] --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/3048814. Public record. Not legal advice.