United States v. Michael Piervinanzi, Daniel Tichio, John M. Bookhart, Jr.

Michael Piervinanzi and Daniel Tichio 1 appeal from judgments of conviction entered July 31, 1992 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Peter K. Leisure, Judge, after an eleven-day jury trial. The jury found Piervinanzi and Tichio guilty of conspiracy, attempted bank fraud, and attempted money laundering charges arising from a scheme to fraudulently transfer funds overseas from an account at Irving Trust Company (“Irving Trust”). The jury also convicted Piervinanzi of wire fraud, attempted bank fraud, attempted money laundering, and money laundering charges stemming from a separate but related scheme targeting an account at Morgan • Guaranty Trust Company (“Morgan Guaranty”). The district court sentenced Piervinan-zi to concurrent terms of 210 months imprisonment on each of seven counts of conviction, imposed a five-year term of supervised release for one attempted money laundering count and concurrent three-year terms of supervised release on the six other counts, and fined him $10,000. The court sentenced Tichio to concurrent terms of 135 months imprisonment on each of his three counts of conviction, and to concurrent three-year terms of supervised release.

We vacate Piervinanzi’s conviction for money laundering under 18 U.S.C. § 1957, and remand both cases to the district court for resentencing. We affirm the convictions in all other respects.

Background

This case involves two separate but related schemes to transfer funds electronically out of banks and overseas. The basic facts are not in dispute.

A. The Irving Trust Scheme.

From 1982 to 1988, Lorenzo DelGiudice was an auditor and computer operations specialist for Irving Trust. DelGiudice was responsible for monitoring and improving the security of the bank’s wire transfer procedures to prevent'unauthorized transfers. In March 1988, Anthony Márchese told DelGi-udice that he and Piervinanzi were planning to rob an armored car. DelGiudice suggested a less violent alternative — an unauthorized wire transfer of funds .from Irving Trust into an overseas account. DelGiudice explained that he could use his position at Irving Trust to obtain the information necessary to execute such a transfer. DelGiudice also explained that it would be necessary to obtain an overseas bank account for the scheme to succeed, because (1) United States banking regulations made the rapid movement of proceeds difficult, and (2) a domestic fraudulent transfer could, if detected, be readily reversed.

*673 Márchese then introduced DelGiudice to Tichio. After DelGiudice explained the wire transfer scheme to Tichio, Tichio said that he could provide a foreign account to receive the stolen funds. Tichio made arrangements with Dhaniram Rambali, a business associate, to use Rambali’s personal account at First Home Bank in the Cayman Islands to receive the stolen funds. Tichio then told DelGiud-ice that he would be able to provide access to accounts in the Cayman Islands, and emphasized that the strong bank secrecy laws there would prevent tracing of the purloined funds. Tichio told DelGiudice that the $10 million they were then planning to steal could be repatriated in monthly amounts of $200,000.

DelGiudice and Márchese distrusted Ti-chio’s commitment to repatriate the money to them and feared for their safety, especially in view of the protracted payout schedule that Tichio had proposed. Márchese suggested that Piervinanzi be recruited to provide security for the operation; Piervinanzi’s reputed ties to organized crime, he suggested, would deter Tichio from treachery or violence. Márchese and Tichio then met with Piervi-nanzi, who agreed to participate in the scheme and ensure that no one would “be hurt.” Piervinanzi thereafter asked his brother, Robin Piervinanzi (“Robin”), to make the telephone call to Irving Trust that would initiate the transfer of funds to the Cayman Islands. Primarily in order to compensate Piervinanzi for his efforts, the conspirators increased the amount they planned to steal from $10 million to $14 million, of which DelGiudice and Márchese would receive $4 million each, and Tichio and Piervi-nanzi would receive $3 million each.

Despite Piervinanzi’s participation, DelGi-udice remained concerned about his safety, and decided to “sabotage [the] deal.” However, DelGiudice did not want his coconspira-tors to know that he was intentionally frustrating their efforts. Accordingly, when he created the script that Robin would read when calling Irving Trust, DelGiudice left one necessary piece of information out of it: the name of a bank in the United States that would serve as the correspondent bank of First Home Bank in the Cayman Islands. 2 DelGiudice knew that if this information was not provided by the caller, it was likely that the transaction would not be consummated.

On July 6, 1988, Robin called Irving Trust and identified himself as “Joseph Herhal,” an officer at Beneficial Corporation (“Beneficial”), whose Irving Trust account had been selected by DelGiudice for the transfer. Robin instructed a clerk to wire $14.2 million from the Beneficial account to Rambali’s account at First Home Bank in the Cayman Islands. Reading from the script provided by DelGiudice, Robin supplied all required information except the identity of the correspondent bank. In the course of processing the transaction, the clerk contacted Beneficial to ask the identity of the American correspondent bank for First Home Bank. The clerk then learned that Beneficial had not requested the wire transfer, and halted the transaction. To deflect suspicion from himself, DelGiudice told Márchese that Irving Trust had stopped the transfer because First Home Bank was a “fly by night” operation.

B. The Morgan Guaranty Scheme.

In July 1988, in a move unrelated to the attempted bank fraud, DelGiudice left his job at Irving Trust and accepted a “better position” at Morgan Guaranty as audit manager. His first assignment at Morgan Guaranty was to perform an audit of the bank’s wire transfer department. During the autumn of 1988, DelGiudice, Márchese, and Piervinanzi began planning a fraudulent wire transfer from Morgan Guaranty. DelGiudice agreed to acquire the necessary information for the transfer; Márchese and Piervinanzi took responsibility for arranging other aspects of the scheme, such as locating an overseas bank account to receive the stolen funds, recruiting a “caller” to initiate the wire transfer, and arranging for the distribution of the proceeds. They agreed that Tichio would not be involved in the Morgan Guaranty scheme.

Márchese and Piervinanzi contacted Philip Wesoke, a self-styled “financial consultant” who had previously invested (and lost) money *674 for Piervinanzi. Márchese and Piervinanzi told Wesoke that they represented individuals who wanted to invest $14 to $20 million discreetly in a liquid, unregistered asset. Márchese and Piervinanzi told Wesoke that the investment could be “settled” overseas, and Piervinanzi mentioned the Cayman Islands, saying that he and Márchese had recently completed a transaction there. Having learned from the aborted Irving Trust scheme that correspondent bank information was necessary to transfer funds out of the country, Piervinanzi told Wesoke to provide the identity of a correspondent bank.

Wesoke recommended, and Piervinanzi and Márchese agreed, that they invest in diamonds. Wesoke accordingly arranged for a syndicate of Israeli diamond dealers to assemble a portfolio of diamonds for the conspirators. Wesoke also provided Piervinanzi with the necessary account and correspondent bank information for the planned recipient bank.

DelGiudice had selected an account of Shearson Lehman Hutton, Inc. (“Shearson”) at Morgan Guaranty as his target, and compiled the necessary information for the transfer. Piervinanzi gave DelGiudice the information that Wesoke had provided concerning the recipient bank and its American correspondent bank. DelGiudice then met with Robin, who again was chosen to make the call that would trigger the fraudulent transfer. DelGiudice provided Robin with the appropriate Morgan Guaranty telephone number, dictated a script for him to use, and told him when to make the call.

On February 23, 1989, Robin telephoned Morgan Guaranty and, purporting to be Shearson employee William Cicio, directed a wire transfer of $24 million to the selected account in London, with Bankers Trust Company in New York (“Bankers Trust”) serving as the correspondent bank. Although Robin supplied all the information needed to complete the transfer, Morgan Guaranty’s clerk became suspicious because she had spoken with Cicio previously, and discerned that the voice on the telephone was not Cicio’s. The clerk processed the transfer, but reported her suspicions to a supervisor. Either the supervisor or the clerk then contacted Shear-son and learned that the transaction had not been authorized. Although the $24 million had already reached Bankers Trust, the wire transfer was stopped and reversed.

C. The Proceedings Below.

1. Indictment and Trial.

The FBI arrested Piervinanzi on March 2, 1989 for his participation in the Morgan Guaranty scheme. On March 20, 1989, the original indictment was filed in this case, charging Piervinanzi alone with one count of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 2. A twenty-three count superseding indictment was filed on December 18, 1990. This indictment was redacted to seven counts at trial. Counts one through three involved the Irving Trust scheme, while counts four through seven involved the Morgan Guaranty scheme. Count one charged Piervinanzi and Tichio with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. Count two charged Piervinanzi and Tichio with attempted bank fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1344 and 2. Count three charged Piervinanzi and Tichio with attempted money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(2) and 2. Count four charged Piervinanzi with wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 2. Count five charged Piervinanzi with attempted bank fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1344 and 2. Count six charged Piervinanzi with attempted money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956(a)(2) and 2. Count seven charged Piervinanzi with money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1957(a) and 2. Trial commenced on May 1,1991 and concluded on May 17, 1991, when the jury returned a verdict convicting Piervinanzi and Tichio on all counts.

2. Sentencing of Piervinanzi.

At sentencing, Piervinanzi requested a downward departure on several grounds, arguing principally that: (1) the conduct underlying his money laundering convictions fell outside the “heartland” of the money laundering Guideline, and was more properly sentenced as bank fraud; and (2) he was suffering from diminished mental capacity at *675 the time of the offense. In contending that the conduct underlying his money laundering convictions was more appropriately characterized as bank fraud, Piervinanzi cited the commentary to USSG § 2S1.1, the legislative history of pertinent money laundering statutes, and this court’s opinion in United States v. Skinner, 946 F.2d 176, 179-80 (2d Cir.1991), in which we held that a sentencing court may depart downward if the conduct underlying a money laundering conviction falls outside the “heartland” of the conduct addressed by the money laundering statute. In denying the downward departure motion, Judge Leisure found that Piervinanzi’s conduct, involving the attempted transfer of $38 million in fraud proceeds overseas, constituted “a heartland case for a money laundering offense.”

The court confronted diametrically opposed professional opinions concerning Pier-vinanzi’s capacity. The diminished capacity claim stemmed from severe injuries that Piervinanzi had sustained in a 1984 car accident. The defense’s psychologist concluded that Piervinanzi suffered from “post-traumat-ie stress disorder” as a result of the accident, which left Piervinanzi “vulnerable to any propositions that might offer him an opportunity to enhance his sense of self worth.” The psychologist concluded that Piervinanzi’s participation in the bank fraud schemes was “a function of the significantly diminished mental capacity that resulted from his Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.”

The government’s psychiatrist pointed out that: (1) letters submitted on Piervinanzi’s behalf at sentencing indicated that he “was able to function to a large degree and had formed positive interpersonal relationships;” (2) Piervinanzi had sought no psychiatric treatment after the 1984 accident; and (3) his role in the Irving Trust and Morgan Guaranty schemes involved planning and collaboration that “would be difficult for one whose mental capacity was significantly reduced due to mental disease.” The government’s psychiatrist concluded that there was no basis to conclude that Piervinanzi “had a significantly reduced mental capacity to evaluate his actions or the actions of those around him,” or that there was any “connection between his ongoing actions at the time of the offenses and psychological symptoms.”

The district court declined to grant Piervi-nanzi a downward departure for diminished mental capacity, concluding that Piervinanzi had not shown “that there was some impairment of his mental functioning which caused him unwittingly to be involved in this scheme,” and that “his own conduct and actions and conversations belie that position.” The court added that the government’s position that there was “no connection between the [asserted] diminished capacity and the criminal activity itself’ was “well-taken.”

USSG § 2Sl.l(a)(l) prescribes a base offense level of twenty-three for violations of § 1956(a)(2). The court increased the base by eleven levels to account for the amount of the potential loss, $38 million dollars, see id., § 2Sl.l(b)(2)(L), for a total offense level of thirty-four. Given Piervinanzi’s criminal history category of III, the applicable Guidelines range for the money laundering offenses (counts three, six, and seven) was 188-235 months. Although the applicable statutory maximum sentence for the conspiracy, wire fraud, and attempted bank fraud convictions (counts one, two, four, and five) was five years imprisonment, see 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1343, 1344, 3 the court sentenced Piervinanzi to concurrent terms of 210 months imprisonment on each of the seven counts of conviction.

3. Sentencing of Tichio.

Tichio also sought a downward departure on the basis that the Irving Trust scheme was “nothing more than a modern day bank robbery,” and thus his conduct fell outside the heartland of the money laundering statute. Although recognizing his authority to grant a downward departure under applicable law, Judge Leisure declined to do so. Judge Leisure concluded that Tichio’s con *676 duct fell within the heartland of the conduct prohibited by the money laundering guidelines, and that even if it were not within this heartland, he would not grant a downward departure. The court added nine levels to the base offense level of twenty-three to account for the potential loss attributable to the Irving Trust scheme, for a total offense level of thirty-two. See USSG § 2Sl.l(a)(l), (b)(2)(J). Because Tichio had a criminal history category of I, the applicable Guidelines range for the attempted money laundering offense (count three) was 121-151 months. The court sentenced Tichio to 135 months imprisonment on counts one, two, and three, to run concurrently, although the statutory maxima for counts one (18 U.S.C. § 371) and two (18 U.S.C. § 1344, cf. supra note 3) were five years.

This appeal followed.

Discussion

On appeal, Piervinanzi argues that: (1) his conduct did not violate the federal money laundering statutes under which he was convicted, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956(a)(2) & 1957(a); (2) the first of his four trial attorneys had a conflict of interest that resulted in the deprivation of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel; and (3) the district court incorrectly failed to grant him a downward departure for diminished capacity pursuant to USSG § 5K2.13. Tichio contends that his conduct did not come within the “heartland” of the money laundering guideline, and accordingly that he should have been accorded a downward departure and sentenced according to the guideline for his “real crime” of bank fraud. He also joins in Piervinanzi’s arguments, see Fed.R.App.P. 28(i), thus associating himself with the claim that § 1956(a)(2) is inapplicable to the Irving Trust scheme.

As an initial matter, we note that the district court imposed sentences for counts one, two, four, and five in excess of the statutory maxima authorized for the crimes charged therein. Piervinanzi received concurrent sentences of 210 months imprisonment for counts one, two, four, and five, while Tichio received concurrent sentences of 135 months imprisonment for counts one and two. The maximum applicable sentence under 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1343, and 1344 (cf. supra note 3) is five years. We accordingly vacate the excessive sentences and remand for resentencing on these counts. See United States v. Restrepo, 986 F.2d 1462, 1462-63 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 114 S.Ct. 130, 126 L.Ed.2d 94 (1993).

We turn to the arguments presented on appeal by Piervinanzi and Tichio.

A. Money Laundering Conviction of Pier-vinanzi under § 1957(a).

Piervinanzi was convicted on count seven of the indictment of violating 18 U.S.C. § 1957(a) for his participation in the Morgan Guaranty scheme. This statute provides in relevant part:

(a) Whoever ... knowingly engages or attempts to engage in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property that is of a value greater than $10,000 and is derived from specified unlawful activity, shall be punished as provided in subsection

(b).

(f) As used in this section—

(2) the term “criminally derived property” means any property constituting, or derived from, proceeds obtained from a criminal offense; and

(3) the term “specified unlawful activity” has the meaning given that term in section 1956 of this title.

As defined in § 1956, “specified unlawful activity” includes bank fraud. See § 1956(c)(7)(D). 4

Count seven charged that Piervinanzi violated § 1957 by fraudulently causing the *677 transfer of approximately $24 million from Morgan Guaranty. Piervinanzi argues that the language of the statute only encompasses transactions in which a defendant first obtains “criminally derived property,” and then engages in a monetary transaction with that property. Because the funds transferred from Morgan Guaranty were not yet property derived from the wire fraud and bank fraud scheme, Piervinanzi contends, his actions did not come within the purview of § 1957. The government does not dispute this reading of the statute, and joins Piervi-nanzi’s request to vacate his conviction on this count.

“[T]he starting point for interpreting a statute is the language of the statute itself.” Consumer Prod. Safety Comm’n v. GTE Sylvania, 447 U.S. 102, 108, 100 S.Ct. 2051, 2056, 64 L.Ed.2d 766 (1980). Thus, the first canon of statutory construction is that “a legislature says in a statute what it means and means in a statute what it says there.” Connecticut Nat’l Bank v. Germain, — U.S. -,-, 112 S.Ct. 1146, 1149, 117 L.Ed.2d 391 (1992) (collecting cases). Indeed, “[w]hen the words of a statute are unambiguous, ... this first canon is also the last: judicial inquiry is complete.’ ” Id. (quoting Rubin v. United States, 449 U.S. 424, 430, 101 S.Ct. 698, 701, 66 L.Ed.2d 633 (1981)). Finally, “ ‘unless otherwise defined, [statutory] words will be interpreted as taking their ordinary, contemporary, common meaning.’ ” Harris v. Sullivan, 968 F.2d 263, 265 (2d Cir.1992) (quoting Perrin v. United States, 444 U.S. 37, 42, 100 S.Ct. 311, 314, 62 L.Ed.2d 199 (1979)).

The language of § 1957 supports Piervi-nanzi’s interpretation of that statute. The ordinary meaning of the word “obtained” entails possession of a thing. See Webster’s Third New International Dictionary 1559 (1986). Similarly, the word “property” implies ownership, or the “exclusive right to possess, enjoy, and dispose of a thing.” Id. at 1818. The use of such language demonstrates a congressional intent that the proceeds of a crime be in the defendant’s possession before he can attempt to transfer those proceeds in violation of § 1957. See United States v. Johnson, 971 F.2d 562, 569 (10th Cir.1992) (“both the plain language of § 1957 and the legislative history behind it suggest that Congress targeted only those transactions occurring after proceeds have been obtained from the underlying unlawful activity”); United States v. Lovett, 964 F.2d 1029, 1042 (10th Cir.) (“Congress intended [§ 1957] to separately punish a defendant for monetary transactions that follow in time the underlying specified unlawful activity that generated the criminally derived property in the first place.”) (citing H.R.Rep. No. 855, 99th Cong., 2d Sess., pt. 1, at 7 (1986) (the “House Report”)), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 113 S.Ct. 169, 121 L.Ed.2d 117 (1992).

Piervinanzi and his colleagues succeeded in transferring $24 million from Morgan Guaranty to Bankers Trust, but these funds never came into the possession or under the control of the conspirators. Thus, Piervinanzi was improperly convicted of money laundering in violation of § 1957, and we reverse his conviction on count seven.

B. Money Laundering Convictions under § 1956(a)(2).

Piervinanzi contends that the proof at trial did not establish the elements of money laundering or attempted money laundering under 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(2), and therefore that his convictions under counts three and six of the indictment must be reversed. He argues that § 1956(a)(2) is not violated unless there is some “secondary laundering activity not previously made criminal by pre-existing criminal statutes.” Accordingly, he contends, because the asserted criminal laundering activity, the overseas transfer of the bank funds, was simply a component of the bank frauds that the conspirators attempted to perpetrate against Irving Trust and Morgan Guaranty, there was no analytically distinct “secondary” activity, and thus no criminal laundering violative of § 1956(a)(2).

Before addressing this contention, however, we must consider a statutory issue that has not been raised by the parties, and pertains only to the Irving Trust scheme.

1. Language of § 1956(a)(2) Applicable Only to Irving Trust Scheme.

At the time of the Irving Trust scheme (March-July 1988), § 1956(a)(2) read in pertinent part:

*678 (2) Whoever transports or attempts to transport a monetary instrument or funds from a place in the United States to or through a place outside the United States

(A) with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity, ... shall be sentenced to a fine ... or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both.

18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(2) (Supp. V 1987) (emphasis added).

After the failure of the Irving Trust scheme, but prior to the execution of the Morgan Guaranty scheme in February 1989, Congress amended subsection (a)(2) of § 1956 to apply to

Whoever transports, transmits, or transfers, or attempts to transport, transmit, or transfer a monetary instrument or funds from a place in the United States to or through a place outside the United States....

18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(2) (1988) (emphasis added); see Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, Pub.L. 100-690, § 6471(b), 102 Stat. 4181, 4378 (enacted Nov. 18,1988). Subsection (A) remained unchanged. 5

Although the parties have not put the question before the court, we must consider whether § 1956 as it stood at the time of the Irving Trust scheme, prohibiting only “transport[ation]” of “funds” to an overseas destination, applied to wire transfers. The term “transport” is not defined in the statute. It could be argued that the ordinary meaning of the term, i.e., to “carry” or “convey” a thing from one place to another, see Webster’s Third New International Dictionary 2430, denotes only the physical transportation of an object and does not encompass wire transfers. See G. Richard Strafer, Money Laundering: The Crime of the ’90’s, 27 Am.Crim. L.Rev. 149, 163 n. 86 (1989).

We conclude, however, that the plain language of the statute applies to wire transfers as well as physical conveyances of money. The term “transports” must be considered in light of the objects to be transported, that is, “monetary instrument[s] or funds.” As the Ninth Circuit has observed, “where money is concerned, a contemporary meaning of ‘transport’ would have to include a wire transfer, since funds are increasingly ‘conveyed’ electronically.” United States v. Monroe, 943 F.2d 1007, 1015 (9th Cir.1991) (construing language of § 1956(a)(2) prior to its 1988 amendment), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 112 S.Ct. 1585, 118 L.Ed.2d 304 (1992). Similarly, this court has construed 18 U.S.C. § 2314, which then prohibited the “transport[ation] in foreign or interstate commerce [of] ... money,” to include wire transfers, 6 as follows:

*679 The question whether the section covers electronic transfers of funds appears to be one of first impression, but we do not regard it as a difficult one. Electronic signals in this context are the means by which funds are transported.... Indeed, we suspect that actual dollars rarely move between banks, particularly in international transactions.

United States v. Gilboe, 684 F.2d 235, 238 (2d Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1201, 103 S.Ct. 1185, 75 L.Ed.2d 432 (1983).

As best we can ascertain, every other court that has considered this question has reached the same conclusion. See United States v. LaSpesa, 956 F.2d 1027, 1035 (11th Cir.1992) (construing § 2314); Monroe, 943 F.2d at 1015 (construing § 1956(a)(2)); United States v. Kroh, 896 F.2d 1524, 1528-29 (8th Cir.) (construing § 2314), rehearing granted, judgment vacated on other grounds, 904 F.2d 450 (8th Cir.), on rehearing, 915 F.2d 326 (8th Cir.1990) (in banc); United States v. Goldberg, 830 F.2d 459, 466-67 (3d Cir.1987) (same); United States v. Wright, 791 F.2d 133, 136-37 (10th Cir.1986) (same).

We accordingly turn to the argument made by Piervinanzi that § 1956(a)(2) does not provide a valid basis for his conviction on counts three and six of the indictment.

2. Scope of Section 1956(a)(2).

Piervinanzi contends that the language of § 1956(a)(2) (1988), its legislative history, pertinent case law, the United States Attorneys’ Manual guidelines for prosecutions under the statute, and relevant Sentencing Guidelines commentary all support the conclusion that this provision proscribes only “laundering” activity that is analytically distinct from the underlying criminal activity that it promotes, and that the overseas fund transfers intended in this case do not satisfy this statutory requirement. For the reasons that follow, we reject his reading of § 1956(a)(2).

a. Statutory Language.

The statutory language at issue requires that there be a transmission of funds “with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity.” § 1956(a)(2)(A). As previously noted, “specified unlawful activity” includes bank fraud. See supra note 4 and accompanying text. The counts (three and six) of the indictment that charge violations of § 1956(a)(2) both specify that the overseas fund transfers were designed to further “a fraudulent scheme in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344 [i.e., bank fraud].”

Piervinanzi contends that in this case, the overseas transmission of funds “merges” with the underlying bank fraud, precluding independent liability under § 1956(a)(2). In our view, however, the conduct at issue in this case falls within the prohibition of the statute. The conspirators understood the use of overseas accounts to be integral to the success of both the Irving Trust and Morgan Guaranty schemes. DelGiudice explained to the other conspirators that use of foreign accounts would make the fraudulently obtained funds more difficult to trace. Tichio obtained access to Rambali’s Cayman Islands bank account because he understood that bank secrecy laws there would hamper official efforts to recover the stolen funds. Similarly, Piervinanzi and Márchese told Wesoke that they wished to “settle[ ]” their transaction overseas. Because transferring the funds overseas (and beyond the perceived reach of U.S. officials) was integral to the success of both fraudulent schemes, it is undeniable that the attempted transfers were designed to “promote” the underlying crime of bank fraud. Contrary to Piervinanzi’s assertion, this reading of the statute does not “merge” the underlying criminal activity and promotion through laundering into one. The act of attempting to fraudulently transfer funds out of the banks was analytically distinct from the attempted transmission of those funds overseas, and was itself independently illegal. See 18 U.S.C. § 1344.

Analysis of the overall structure of § 1956 confirms this interpretation. Section 1956(a)(1), 7 the domestic money laundering *680 statute, penalizes financial transactions that “involv[e] ... the proceeds of specified unlawful activity.” The provision requires first that the proceeds of specified unlawful activity be generated, and second that the defendant, knowing the proceeds to be tainted, conduct or attempt to conduct a financial transaction with these proceeds with the intent to promote specified unlawful activity. 8 By contrast, § 1956(a)(2) contains no requirement that “proceeds” first be generated by unlawful activity, followed by a financial transaction with those proceeds, for criminal liability to attach. Instead, it penalizes an overseas transfer “with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity.” § 1956(a)(2)(A).

The fact that Congress uses different language in defining violations in a statute indicates that Congress intentionally sought to create distinct offenses. Cf. Russello v. United, States, 464 U.S. 16, 23, 104 S.Ct. 296, 300, 78 L.Ed.2d 17 (1983) (Congress presumed to act intentionally when it includes particular language in one section of a statute but omits it from another); United States v. Pimental, 979 F.2d 282, 284 (2d Cir.1992) (same), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 113 S.Ct. 2458, 124 L.Ed.2d 672 (1993). The clearly demarcated two-step requirement which Piervinanzi advocates in the construction of § 1956(a)(2) is apparent in other provisions of the federal money laundering statutes, but not in § 1956(a)(2). We have no authority to supply the omission.

Piervinanzi also contends that the prohibition in § 1956(a)(2)(A) of “carrying on” underlying criminal activity would be meaningless, and the phrase rendered superfluous, unless it connotes continuous criminal activity that is not presented by the discrete bank frauds in this ease. (This argument could be presented even more strongly by Tiehio, who engaged in only one of the attempted frauds.) The “specified unlawful activity” that must be “carried on” to result in a § 1956(a)(2) violation, however, is consistently defined in each paragraph of § 1956(c)(7) as including discrete, singular offenses, as follows: “any act or activity constituting an offense” (paragraph (A), emphasis added); “an offense ” (paragraph (B), emphasis added); “any act” or acts constituting a continuing criminal enterprise” (paragraph (C), emphasis added); and “an offense” (paragraph (D), emphasis added). Thus, we conclude, § 1956(a)(2) can be satisfied by the “carrying on” of a single offense of “bank fraud,” and “carrying on” in § 1956(a)(2), rather than connoting continuous criminal activity, has essentially the same meaning as “conducts” in § 1956(a)(1). Indeed, this is the primary meaning of “carry on.” See Webster’s Third New International Dictionary 344.

b. Legislative History.

The relatively scanty legislative history of § 1956(a)(2), see United States v. Stavroulakis, 952 F.2d 686 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 112 S.Ct. 1982, 118 L.Ed.2d 580 (1992), supports this analysis. The Senate report on the version of the bill reported to the Senate explains that § 1956(a)(2) is “designed to illegalize international money laundering transactions,” and “covers situations in which money is being laundered ... by transferring it out of the United States.” S.Rep. No. 433, 99th Cong., 2d Sess. 11 (1986) (the “Senate Report”). The Senate Report’s discussion of § 1956(a)(2) is conspicuously silent about any requirement that the funds be proceeds of some distinct activity, merely stating that the statute is violated when a defendant “engage[s] in an act of transporting or attempted transporting and either intend[s] to facilitate a crime or know[s] that the transaction was designed to facilitate a crime.” Id. 9 By contrast, the *681 Senate Report explains that § 1956(a)(1) “requires that the property involved in a transaction must in fact be proceeds of ‘specified unlawful activity1_” Id. at 10.

Piervinanzi points out that a pertinent House report states in general terms .that “[t]his bill ... will punish transactions that are undertaken with the proceeds of crimes or that are designed to launder the proceeds of crime.” House Report at 7. However, the version of the statute upon which this report comments was substantially different from that ultimately enacted. Rather than prohibiting overseas transfers made “with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified illegal activity,” as the enacted § 1956(a)(2) provides, the version of the bill discussed in the House Report would have applied to overseas transfers made “to conceal criminally derived property that is derived from a designated offense, or ... to disguise the source of ownership of, or control over, criminally deprived property that is derived from a designated offense.” House Report at 2 (emphasis added). The House Report thus discusses a version of the money laundering bill too different from that enacted to be of any use in divining congressional intent with respect to the enacted provisions of § 1956. Indeed, the broader language that Congress ultimately adopted bespeaks an intention not to be constrained to punishing laundering activity involving separately derived criminal property.

c. Case Law.

Nor do the precedents invoked by Piervi-nanzi sustain his position. He points, for example, to the following statement in Stav-roulakis:

Section 1956 creates the crime of money laundering, and it takes dead aim at the attempt to launder dirty money. Why and how that money got dirty is defined in other statutes. Section 1956 does not penalize the underlying unlawful activity from which the tainted money is derived.

952 F.2d at 691 (emphasis added). In the context of this case, the emphasized language is a truism that begs the question whether the intended overseas transfers should be considered as separate secondary “laundering” or a component of the underlying bank fraud.

Our opinion in United States v. Skinner, 946 F.2d 176 (2d Cir.1991), is considerably more relevant. Concededly, in that case we construed § 1956(a)(1), which requires that separate proceeds be utilized in a financial transaction. See supra note 7. Our focus in Skinner, however, was upon the statutory requirement, identical in this respect to § 1956(a)(2)(A), that a financial transaction be undertaken “with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity.” § 1956(a)(1)(A)(i). We concluded that this language applied to the transportation of money orders to pay for purchases of cocaine. Although the transactions “in reality represented only the completion of the sale” of cocaine, 946 F.2d at 179, we concluded that they were made to facilitate the sale of cocaine and thus were made “with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity.” See id. at 178.

A number of eases from other circuits support this view. In United States v. Cavalier,