Court filing
Government Opposition to Motion for Modification of Bail Conditions — United States v. Daniel Dadoun (D.N.J.)
Filed January 22, 2025 in U.S. v. Dadoun; one of 11 filings from this case.
Record facts
| Court | U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey |
|---|---|
| Filed | 2025-01-22 |
U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey · No. 3:25-cr-00215-RK · Doc. 26 · 2025-01-22 · Docket on CourtListener
Full text
U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
District of New Jersey
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
970 Broad Street, 7th floor
973-645-2700
Newark, New Jersey 07102
January 22, 2025
Via ECF and Email
The Honorable Michael A. Hammer
United States Magistrate Judge
MLK Jr. Bldg. & U.S. Courthouse
50 Walnut Street
Newark, NJ 07102
Re:
United States v. Daniel Dadoun, Mag. No. 23-8137 –
Government Opposition to Motion for Modification of Bail
Conditions
Dear Judge Hammer:
Please accept this letter in lieu of a more formal response in opposition to
Defendant’s motion for modification of his bail conditions (ECF No. 25). The Court
should deny Defendant’s request.
Background
Defendant has been charged by criminal complaint with four counts of bank
fraud and two counts of transacting in criminal proceeds associated with a scheme
to defraud the U.S. Paycheck Protection Program of over $3.2 million in federal
COVID-19 emergency relief funds, based on false and fraudulent loan and
forgiveness applications. (ECF No. 1.) Defendant, who is not a U.S. citizen and
holds passports from Israel, Canada, and France, was arrested at JFK Airport on
Case 3:25-cr-00215-RK Document 26 Filed 01/22/25 Page 1 of 4 PageID: 117
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November 12, 2023 upon arrival to the United States from China. Defendant was
thereafter detained. (ECF No. 6.)
On September 19, 2024, Defendant was released on bail, over the
Government’s objection, and the Court imposed strict conditions of home
incarceration. (See ECF Nos. 19, 20.) The Government opposed Defendant’s
request for release given the significant risk of flight. Dadoun is a non-U.S. citizen
with connections to several foreign countries and he has been charged with serious
offenses. He has access to significant funds including funds held both U.S. and
foreign bank accounts, and he lacks ties to the community; his entire family resides
in Israel.
A. Defendant Has Not Been Compliant With Conditions of Home
Incarceration, and Does Have a Criminal History
Defendant has not remained compliant with the terms of his home
incarceration. For example, according to Pretrial Services, when asked to provide
proof of his attendance at a recent medical appointment on January 16, 2025,
Defendant was unable to do so, and said that the appointment had been cancelled.
Location monitoring indicated that Defendant left his residence that day to go
shopping. When questioned about his whereabouts on January 19, 2025, another
day on which Defendant purportedly had a medical appointment, Defendant
reported to Pretrial Services that his appointment was rescheduled from 9:30 a.m.,
to 11 a.m., to 1:00 p.m., and that he traveled around Manhattan during that time.
Pretrial Services is awaiting confirmation of Defendant’s attendance at a medical
appointment on that date.
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Defendant’s motion seeking modification of his bail conditions is also not
accurate to the extent he claims that this is his first interaction with law
enforcement and that he has no criminal history. In fact, in 2014 Defendant was
charged by state authorities in New Jersey with making false statements to law
enforcement in connection with an incident at a business he operated, where a
worker was electrocuted. He received a conditional discharge, which is part of his
criminal history.
B. The Government Opposes Defendant’s Extensive Requests for
Modification
At the bail hearing on September 19, 2024, Defendant specifically asked that
he be permitted to leave his residence for religious services, and the Court denied
that request. (ECF No. 19.1) Nothing has changed that would warrant the Court
revisiting that ruling, particularly given Defendant’s recent noncompliance with his
current conditions of release. Defendant continues to present a significant flight
risk, and modification of his conditions to permit in-person attendance at religious
services three times per day during weekdays, and twice on weekends, would
permit him extensive freedom to leave his residence that would make it more
difficult for Pretrial Services to monitor his location and ensure his compliance with
conditions and his attendance for required court proceedings.
Defendant’s current conditions of release already provide an accommodation
for attorney visits. However, the Government opposes Defendant’s request that he
1 A copy of this transcript has been ordered, but not yet received.
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be granted blanket permission to cross state lines to meet with his civil attorneys
for five hours per day, twice a week, for a duration of six months. Neither
Defendant nor his attorneys have presented any justification as to why this
modification of bail conditions is necessary or would be appropriate under the
circumstances. Defendant is represented by counsel as to these civil cases, none of
which appear to name him personally as a litigant, and the cases appear to be
straightforward contract, landlord-tenant, and zoning matters. The Government is
concerned that given the Defendant’s recent use of purportedly scheduled “medical
appointments” to leave his residence for unauthorized purposes, modifying his
conditions to permit this extensive, regular, out-of-state travel for purported
attorney visits would present a significant risk of flight and could impede Pretrial
Services’ ability to monitor his location.
Conclusion
For the reasons explained above and on the record at the bail hearing on
September 19, 2024, the Court should deny Defendant’s request for modification of
bail conditions. (ECF No. 25.)
Respectfully submitted,
VIKAS KHANNA
ACTING UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
_______________________________
By:
Katherine M. Romano
Assistant U.S. Attorney
cc: Counsel of Record (via ECF)
/s/ Katherine M. Romano
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