People v. Banks

OPINION OF THE COURT

Michael R. Juviler, J.

This case raises a question about the scope of the Penal Law *15sections dealing with the crime of falsifying business records, a question left open in People v Davis (49 NY2d 910, 912). The answer affects not only the present case, but every instance in which a fraudulent written statement about a borrower’s financial condition is given to a bank or other lender to obtain a loan.

The defendants have been indicted on charges growing out of an alleged scheme to steal more than $300,000 from charities serving Brooklyn and from the City of New York. The…