Bankruptcy Fraud Second FBI

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Bankruptcy Fraud

<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;16754" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-16754" style&equals;"width&colon; 336px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignright"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;bankruptcy&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-15103"><img class&equals;"wp-image-16754" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;10&sol;bankruptcy-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Bankruptcy Fraud" width&equals;"336" height&equals;"225" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-16754" class&equals;"wp-caption-text"><em><strong>Bankruptcy Fraud<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Federal <em>bankruptcy<&sol;em> proceedings can be a lifesaver for honest individuals overwhelmed by debt as a result of unemployment&comma; a medical crisis&comma; divorce&comma; disability&comma; or any number of other legitimate reasons&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Unfortunately&comma; bankruptcy can also be used by the unscrupulous to get out of paying their debts&comma; even though they may have the <strong>financial assets<&sol;strong> to do so&period; And often&comma; <em>financial fraudsters<&sol;em> use bankruptcy process to facilitate or prolong their illegal white-collar schemes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The FBI is the primary investigative agency responsible for addressing bankruptcy fraud&period; And while there are other financial crimes that require larger investments of our resources—like <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;mortgage-scams-common-types-of-mortgage-fraud&sol;">mortgage<&sol;a>&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;financial-scams-most-common-ways&sol;">financial<&sol;a> institution&comma; and health care fraud—we take our responsibility to pursue allegations of <strong>bankruptcy fraud<&sol;strong> seriously&period; We focus on cases with large dollar amounts&comma; the possible involvement of organized crime&comma; and suspects who file in multiple states&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;ust&sol;">U&period;S&period; Trustees Program<&sol;a>&comma; part of the Department of Justice&comma; oversees the bankruptcy system&period; When it uncovers suspected fraud&comma; it refers the information to the appropriate U&period;S&period; attorney and to the FBI&period; Working closely with the U&period;S&period; Attorney’s Office&comma; our field office investigators open a case if warranted and begin conducting interviews and reviewing <a class&equals;"wpil&lowbar;keyword&lowbar;link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;tag&sol;financial-fraud&sol;" title&equals;"financial" data-wpil-keyword-link&equals;"linked" data-wpil-monitor-id&equals;"486">financial<&sol;a> documents&period; Based on the complexity of the case&comma; we can also use techniques like undercover operations and court-authorized electronic surveillance to gather additional evidence&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Our investigations typically involve fraud committed through Chapter 7&comma; Chapter 11&comma; or Chapter 13 of the Federal Bankruptcy Code&period; Chapter 7 is a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;liquidation” process&comma; where a debtor may receive a discharge from his&sol;her debts&period; Those assets not exempt from creditors are collected and liquidated &lpar;reduced to money&rpar;&period; The proceeds are distributed to creditors by a trustee appointed by the court&period; Chapter 11 is a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;reorganization” whereby an individual or business is allowed to reorganize its debt and continue to operate&period; The debtor creates a court approved plan to repay all or parts of its debts&period; Chapter 11 is typically used by businesses facing financial hardships&period; Chapter 13 is a wage earner &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;reorganization&comma;” where individuals with regular income reorganizes their financial affairs under a court approved repayment plan that must be completed within three to five years&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>Bankruptcy fraud<&sol;em> culprits typically include private citizens&comma; small business owners&comma; corporate CEOs&comma; real estate agents&comma; politicians&comma; and <a class&equals;"wpil&lowbar;keyword&lowbar;link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;category&sol;loans&sol;" title&equals;"loan" data-wpil-keyword-link&equals;"linked" data-wpil-monitor-id&equals;"171">loan<&sol;a> officers&period; We’ve even seen cases where bankruptcy attorneys and bankruptcy petition preparers have engaged in criminal behavior at the expense of debtors and creditors in bankruptcy proceedings&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The majority of our casework involves people who have lied under oath or provided false documentation during their bankruptcy proceedings&comma; concealed or transferred their financial assets&comma; or committed <strong>tax fraud<&sol;strong>&period; Other schemes include using false identities to file for bankruptcy multiple times in multiple locations&comma; bribing a bankruptcy trustee&comma; and intentionally running up credit card bills with no intention of paying them off &lpar;also known as &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;credit card bust-outs”&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Our investigations have shown that many times bankruptcy fraud is committed in conjunction with crimes such as <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;credit-and-money-fraud-ways-list&sol;">credit card fraud<&sol;a>&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;identity-theft-most-common-fraud-complaint-received&sol;">identity theft<&sol;a>&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;mortgage-scams-common-types-of-mortgage-fraud&sol;">mortgage fraud<&sol;a>&comma; money laundering&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;category&sol;email-scams-examples&sol;">mail and wire fraud<&sol;a>&comma; etc&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The FBI often partners with other federal agencies—like the Internal Revenue Service—to investigate bankruptcy fraud&period; We also participate in many of the 87 financial crimes working groups and specialized task forces around the country with U&period;S&period; Trustee Program representatives&comma; U&period;S&period; attorneys&comma; and other federal partners&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Bankruptcy fraud not only affects creditors like businesses and financial institutions who lose money from fraud&comma; it also results in higher credit card and loan fees and often higher taxes for everyone&period; So if you suspect bankruptcy fraud&comma; please contact the U&period;S&period; Trustees Program at <a href&equals;"mailto&colon;USTP&period;Bankruptcy&period;Fraud&commat;usdoj&period;gov&quest;subject&equals;U&period;S&period;&percnt;20Trustees&percnt;20Program&percnt;20">USTP&period;Bankruptcy&period;Fraud&commat;usdoj&period;gov<&sol;a> or your<a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fbi&period;gov&sol;contact-us&sol;field"> local FBI office<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>If you are considering filing for bankruptcy for legitimate reasons&comma; contact an attorney who specializes in bankruptcies—and do your due diligence before hiring a lawyer by getting referrals from someone you know who has declared bankruptcy&comma; check with your local bankruptcy court&comma; and contact your state bar association&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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