Bankruptcy Fraud: How To Identifying And Wich Are Common Fraud Schemes

<h2>Bleedouts<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>A bleedout is similar to a bustout&period; It usually involves an existing company and a depletion of assets by insiders over a relatively long period of time&period; There are concealed assets or false statements in this situation&period; Long-standing owners or corporate raiders can be perpetrators of the crime&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Examples Of Bleedouts<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mh-content-ad"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js&quest;client&equals;ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; crossorigin&equals;"anonymous"><&sol;script>&NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle"&NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;"&NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article"&NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid"&NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1081854981"><&sol;ins>&NewLine;<script>&NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>Corporate Raider Bleedouts&colon; A stable company with very liquid assets&comma; such as a large pension and&sol;or profit sharing fund&comma; is acquired in a leveraged buyout&period; The company is operated for the sole purpose of allowing the insiders to loot the company&period; A Chapter 11 is filed to allow the insiders to complete their scheme&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Business transactions are complex and purposefully confusing&comma; which makes fraudulent conveyance actions expensive and difficult to prove&period; This type of scheme is used in all types of industries&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;White Knight&&num;8221&semi; Bleedouts&colon; A business consultant is hired by a troubled business to assist it in acquiring new financing and streamlining operations&period; On occasion&comma; the &&num;8220&semi;white knight&&num;8221&semi; is given an ownership interest in the business&period; The consultant takes control of the financial operations of the business and uses his position to convert company assets&period; Often this includes failing to pay withholding taxes&comma; failing to make pension fund contributions&comma; diversion of receivables&comma; paying personal expenses with company funds&comma; taking excessive salary and bonuses and&comma; in some situations&comma; paying false invoices to entities or individuals related to the consultant&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Parallel Entities&colon; A long-standing company experiences financial problems&period; Insiders of the company create a new business in the same industry just prior to or soon after the bankruptcy filing&period; In some cases&comma; the debtor sells some of its assets to the new entity for a fraction of their value just prior to the bankruptcy&period; The non-debtor entity is usually not disclosed&period; The insiders operate the debtor until they have successfully transferred the debtor&&num;8217&semi;s inventory&comma; receivables&comma; customers and goodwill to the new company&period; In addition&comma; the insiders may use the debtor to purchase goods and services for the new company with the intent of never repaying the Chapter 11 administrative creditors&period; This is usually a lawyer-assisted fraud&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Assignment for the Benefit of Creditor &lpar;ABC&rpar;&sol;Insider Sales&colon; These cases include non-bankruptcy workouts in which misrepresentations are made to creditors &lpar;mail fraud&rpar; and the assets are sold to undisclosed insiders for inadequate consideration&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The secured creditor agrees to the transaction because its security position improves if the new company is debt free&period; The scheme usually terminates in an involuntary bankruptcy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Red Flags&sol;Common Characteristics<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>&CenterDot; Recent changes of ownership&sol;new players<br &sol;>&NewLine;&CenterDot; People with no prior involvement in the business have money transferred to them&comma; both pre-petition and during the bankruptcy<br &sol;>&NewLine;&CenterDot; Changes in accounting or cash flow practices for no apparent business reason<br &sol;>&NewLine;&CenterDot; Payment stream to a certain creditor suddenly balloons<br &sol;>&NewLine;&CenterDot; Sudden decrease in inventory&semi; sharp increase in aged receivables<br &sol;>&NewLine;&CenterDot; Inventory&comma; equipment and machinery are sold a short time before the case is filed<br &sol;>&NewLine;&CenterDot; Capital infusions of corporate officers suddenly renamed &&num;8220&semi;loans&&num;8221&semi; and paid back<br &sol;>&NewLine;&CenterDot; Excessive salaries and bonuses<br &sol;>&NewLine;&CenterDot; Complicated asset transfers with no apparent purpose<br &sol;>&NewLine;&CenterDot; Depleted pension funds<br &sol;>&NewLine;&CenterDot; Leveraged buyouts<br &sol;>&NewLine;&CenterDot; Employee contributions for health care and pension funds have been deducted and converted by the debtor<br &sol;>&NewLine;&CenterDot; A new company is formed just prior to or immediately after the bankruptcy case is filed<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Civil Responses To Consider<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>&CenterDot; Motion to appoint a Chapter 11 trustee&comma; an examiner or an involuntary &&num;8220&semi;gap&&num;8221&semi; trustee<br &sol;>&NewLine;&CenterDot; Extensive 2004 exams<br &sol;>&NewLine;&CenterDot; Require debtor to provide pension fund documents and bank statements for the pension fund prior to the 341 meeting of creditors<br &sol;>&NewLine;&CenterDot; Convert case to a Chapter 7&comma; rather than dismissal<br &sol;>&NewLine;&CenterDot; Fraudulent conveyance actions<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Criminal Responses To Consider<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p><strong>Mail Fraud&comma; 18 U&period;S&period;C&period; Section 1341<&sol;strong>&colon; Misrepresentations and the use of U&period;S&period; mail&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Wire Fraud&comma; 18 U&period;S&period;C&period; Section 1343<&sol;strong>&colon; Misrepresentations and the use of interstate wires&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Bankruptcy Fraud&comma; 18 U&period;S&period;C&period; Section 152<&sol;strong>&colon; Pre-petition transfers&comma; concealed assets&comma; or false statements to the court at the 341 meeting of creditors or in court filed documents such as the schedules and statement of financial affairs&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Bankruptcy Fraud&comma; 18 U&period;S&period;C&period; Section 157<&sol;strong>&colon; If any act of the fraud occurs after October 22&comma; 1994&comma; this statute may be used&period; The use of bankruptcy must have aided the fraud scheme in some way&period; Delaying creditors&comma; allowing the debtor to continue to operate or covering up the scheme is an example under this section&period; The statute will be easier to use than 18 U&period;S&period;C&period; Section 152&comma; &&num;8220&semi;concealment&&num;8221&semi; or &&num;8220&semi;in contemplation&&num;8221&semi; because the fraud scheme can be explained in greater detail&period; False statements under oath is the same under either statute&comma; although 157 will allow a broader description of the fraud&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Use of False Social Security Number&comma; 42 U&period;S&period;C&period; Section 408<&sol;strong>&colon; lf used to obtain credit or in the bankruptcy filing&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Credit Card Fraud&comma; 18 U&period;S&period;C&period; Section 1029<&sol;strong>&colon; One thousand dollars or more charged on one unauthorized card in one year or possesses more than 15 fraudulent cards&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Tax Fraud&comma; 26 U&period;S&period;C&period; Section 7201-7203<&sol;strong>&colon; If there is a failure to pay withholding taxes and other taxes&comma; or failure to file returns&period; The IRS should be notified so they may investigate&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Next&semi; Ponzi Schemes &lpar;Investor Fraud&rpar;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"pagination clear clearfix"> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;bankruptcy-fraud-how-to-identifying-and-wich-are-common-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">1<&sol;span><&sol;a> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;bankruptcy-fraud-how-to-identifying-and-wich-are-common-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;2&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">2<&sol;span><&sol;a> <span class&equals;"post-page-numbers current" aria-current&equals;"page"><span class&equals;"pagelink">3<&sol;span><&sol;span> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;bankruptcy-fraud-how-to-identifying-and-wich-are-common-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;4&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">4<&sol;span><&sol;a> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;bankruptcy-fraud-how-to-identifying-and-wich-are-common-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;5&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">5<&sol;span><&sol;a> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;bankruptcy-fraud-how-to-identifying-and-wich-are-common-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;6&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">6<&sol;span><&sol;a> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;bankruptcy-fraud-how-to-identifying-and-wich-are-common-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;7&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">7<&sol;span><&sol;a> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;bankruptcy-fraud-how-to-identifying-and-wich-are-common-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;8&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">8<&sol;span><&sol;a> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;bankruptcy-fraud-how-to-identifying-and-wich-are-common-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;9&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">9<&sol;span><&sol;a> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;bankruptcy-fraud-how-to-identifying-and-wich-are-common-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;10&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">10<&sol;span><&sol;a> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;bankruptcy-fraud-how-to-identifying-and-wich-are-common-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;11&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">11<&sol;span><&sol;a><&sol;div>

Bankruptcy Fraud