Victims of Crime May not Profit From a Restitution Order
Post 5097
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In California criminal cases, restitution is mandatory in every case in which a victim has suffered economic loss as a result of the defendant’s conduct.
In The People v. Alex Dadourian, B329218, California Court of Appeals, Second District, Fourth Division (June 6, 2025) there was a crime but no evidence of economic loss incurred by the victims.
THE FRAUD
Alex Dadourian was convicted on multiple fraud-related counts, all stemming from sending false information to obtain residential mortgage loans.
Some of the fraudulently obtained loans had already been repaid in full to the lenders with interest and without loss.
When there is no showing of economic loss at all, a restitution award is an abuse of discretion.
BACKGROUND
The trial court sentenced Dadourian to five years and four months in state prison.
The trial court ordered Dadourian to pay $8,128,823 in victim restitution.
DISCUSSION
Legal Principles
Restitution is normally mandatory when a criminal victim suffers an economic loss. But when there is no economic loss there is no entitlement to restitution.
While the trial court’s discretion in calculating restitution is broad, it is not limitless.
ANALYSIS
The restitution award at issue here was based on the amount of the loans and trial court ordered restitution in the amount of $8,128,823, the full original face amount of the loans. The Court of Appeals found this was error.
That a loan was made is not enough to show, without more, that a lender suffered an economic loss on that loan.
Six of the loans had been paid off in full (either by sale or refinance) with no realized losses.
The trial court’s order did not “restore” an economic “status quo.” Providing the lenders with additional funds via restitution in the amount of the original loan amounts was a windfall, not restoring the status quo that existed before the loans were made in the first place. Therefore, the victim restitution order was reversed.
ZALMA OPINION
Restitution is available only to make the victim of a crime whole, not to allow he victim to profit from being a victim nor is it proper as additional punishment to the criminal. Dadourian was a bad man who was properly sentenced to state prison. Making him pay the full amount of loans that were obtained fraudulently but which caused no loss to the lenders was wrongfully adding a more than $8 million punishment in addition to prison. Even a fraud perpetrator is entitled to a fair and reasonable sentence.
(c) 2025 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.
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See the full video at https://lnkd.in/gePN7rjm and at https://lnkd.in/gzPwr-9q
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See the full video at and at
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© 2025 Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE
When I finished my three year enlistment in the US Army as a Special Agent of US Army Intelligence in 1967, I sought employment where I could use the investigative skills I learned in the Army. After some searching I was hired as a claims trainee by the Fireman’s Fund American Insurance Company. For five years, while attending law school at night while working full time as an insurance adjuster I became familiar with every aspect of the commercial insurance industry.
On January 2, 1972 I was admitted to the California Bar. I practiced law, specializing in insurance claims, insurance coverage and defense of claims against people insured and defense of insurance companies sued for breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. After 45 years as an active lawyer, I asked that my license to practice law be declared inactive ...
