2nd Circuit transfers restitution appeal

MANHATTAN — The Second Circuit vacated a New York federal court’s decision to reject a fraud convict’s request to have his case transferred to North Carolina to hear his appeal of the government’s attempt to collect on his restitution. He allegedly defaulted on the $3.8 million he was ordered to repay, but believed he would soon get a settlement for his purported exposure to toxic chemicals after the World Trade Center collapsed on 9/11. The circuit ruled the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act’s use of “shall” in a provision makes it mandatory that defendant’s appeal must be heard in the North Carolina court where he was then incarcerated.