In United States v. Dadyan, --- F.4th ---, No. 21-50237 (9th Cir. 2023), the Court affirmed the district court’s imposition of restitution obligations on Vahe Dadyan and Artur Ayvazyan following their convictions of various offenses stemming from a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain federal Covid-relief funds.
The Court held that, under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act (MVRA), the district court properly imposed restitution in the full amount of the loss caused by the conspiracy instead of just the loss caused by the fraudulent loan applications Vahe and Artur personally played a role in submitting.
The Court further held that the district court properly ordered a restitution amount under the MVRA based on the “value” of fraudulently obtained property, which exceeded the amount of “actual loss” the district court found when sentencing him under U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(1).
Finally, the Court held that precedent foreclosed Artur’s argument that his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights to due process and a jury trial required that a jury, not a district judge, find all facts underpinning restitution beyond a reasonable doubt.
