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Illinois farmer's wife sentenced to probation following guilty plea

by admin | Tue, 03/17/2009 - 00:50

Updating a story we reported here, Margaret Diekemper was sentenced to two years of probation and a $500 fine for her role in a bankruptcy fraud scheme in the Southern District of Illinois following a plea agreement reached with the government last November.  Diekemper was also prohibited from any contact with her husband - whose sentencing hearing is scheduled for next month.  Federal prosecutors asked U.S.

IRS bankruptcy fraud investigation leads to structuring charges

by admin | Sun, 01/18/2009 - 10:11

According to this Wisconsin State Journal article, Ismail Beciri was charged in the Western District of Wisconsin with four counts of structuring financial transactions to avoid federal reporting requirements after a federal agents searched his home for evidence of bankruptcy fraud.  Beciri filed bankruptcy in November 2007.  During the course of a search for evidence of bankruptcy fraud, authorities uncovered evidence that Beciri had cashed approximately 60 checks totalling nearly

Judicial Conference certifies to House bankruptcy fraud basis for judge's impeachment

by admin | Sun, 01/04/2009 - 19:17

In a previous post (here) we commented that the Judicial Conference of the United States had certified to the House of Representatives that impeachment proceedings may be warranted against U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteus (E.D.

Pennsylvania debtors receive 15 day prison sentence for failing to disclose family business

by admin | Sat, 01/03/2009 - 21:40

Tammy Beecher and Wyatt Beecher, a Pennsylvania couple, were each sentenced to fifteen days in prison by U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Andrew Smyser in the Middle District of Pennsylvania for contempt of court for untruthful conduct in their joint bankruptcy case.

Funeral home operator indicted on charges of concealing assets and faking funeral expenses

by admin | Thu, 01/01/2009 - 22:22

Eunice Roper-Allen, of the Allen Funeral Home, who was indicted last month in the Central District of Illinois, has entered a not guilty plea to charges that she concealed assets in her bankruptcy case and defrauded a funeral home client by falsifying a decedent's funeral expenses.

Speedy trial limits extended in Rivas case on defense complexity motion

by admin | Thu, 01/01/2009 - 15:24

The trial of Louis Rivas on a multitude of bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy criminal charges arising from the collapse of his foreign curency exchange firm, The Forex Project (discussed in this post), has been re-scheduled to July 20, 2009.

Parmalat founder sentenced following conviction for bankruptcy fraud in Milan

by admin | Wed, 12/31/2008 - 16:05

According to this news report, Calisto Tanzi, the founder of Italian food manufacturer Parmalat was sentenced earlier this month in Milan to serve ten years in prison for his criminal role in the firm's well-publicized collapse.  Tanzi was convicted and sentenced on bankruptcy fraud and criminal association charges.  Dubbed "Europe's Enron," the Parmalat collapse resulted in a series of criminal trials including two of Tanzi's adult children (who negotiated

Florida mortgage fraud scheme ends in eight year prison term

by admin | Tue, 12/30/2008 - 20:15

Anthony Dehaney, whose conviction in a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme we previously reported on here, was sentenced today in the Southern District of Florida to eight years in prison.  Dehaney pleaded guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and making a false declaration in a bankruptcy case last October.  He admitted before sentencing that he began investing in real

Woman charged with filing fraudulent bankruptcy petitions in alleged foreclosure scheme

by admin | Wed, 12/17/2008 - 12:29

Sonia Alburez was charged last week with four counts of bankruptcy fraud for allegedly filing fraudulent bankruptcy petitions in the Northern District of California. 

Probation imposed for couple convicted of concealing income

by admin | Wed, 12/10/2008 - 11:35

According to this news report, Juan Tenorio and Charlene Tenorio each were sentenced to terms of probation after a jury in the District of Guam convicted them of concealing nearly $75,000 in income from their engineering firm during their 2002 bankruptcy case.  U.S.