Owen J. Roberts

“ With respect to the second contention, while there may be some question as to whether the defendants may be said to have 'caused' the mailing of the checks, we think it a fair inference that those defendants who drew, or those who cashed, the checks believed that the banks which took them would mail them to the banks on which they were drawn, and assuming the petitioner participated in the scheme, their knowledge was his knowledge. ”

“ At the trial the Government proved the corporate existence of Triumph, proved that Triumph held Government contracts, that Elk Mills was incorporated and became subcontractor of a Government contract, that the stock of Elk Mills was distributed amongst certain of the defendants and Triumph, as in the indictment alleged, that, under the subcontract, Elk Mills was in receipt of substantial profits and that these profits were used to pay salaries and bonuses to the defendants, including petitioner. ”

“ The federal mail fraud statute does not purport to reach all frauds, but only those limited instances in which the use of the mails is a part of the execution of the fraud, leaving all other cases to be dealt with by appropriate state law.
The Government argues that the scheme was not complete, that so long as Elk Mills remained a subcontractor the defendants expected to receive further bonuses and profits and that the clearing of these checks in the ordinary course was essential to its further prosecution. ”