Jurisdiction (Criminal)

• Author: International Law Group

Michael Tarkoff was a defense attorney representing Ismael Arnaiz. Arnaiz and his partner Akioshi Yamada had committed fraud by having sham patients visit their medical clinics and then billing Medicare a total of $120 million for services that were not provided or were unnecessary. During the investigation of the medicare fraud, Tarkoff and his partner transferred about $470,000 of Arnaiz's criminal proceeds from Miami to Curacao and later to Israel. Of that money, $50,000 ended up in Tarkoff's Israeli bank account. The government alleges only that Tarkoff took part in the illegal transfers from Curacao to Israel.

A federal district court convicted Tarkoff of conspiring to commit money laundering and two counts of money laundering [see relevant Statute at 18 U.S.C. Sections 1956(h) and 1956(a)(1)(B)(I)]. On appeal, Tarkoff argued, among other things, that a conviction based on monetary transactions that took place wholly outside the U.S. is erroneous. Deciding an issue of first impression in the Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirms.

The statute defines "financial transaction" as "(A) a transaction which in any way or degree affects interstate or foreign commerce (I) involving the movement of funds by wire or other means ..., or (B) a transaction involving the use of a financial...