“If You Can’t Do the Time...” Bankruptcy Crimes and Fraud
Panelists:
Kelly Beaudin Stapleton
U.S. Trustee for Region 3; Philadelphia
Richard E. Byrne
Chief, Criminal Enforcement Unit
Executive Office for U.S. Trustees; Washington, D.C.
Stephen A. Donato
Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC; Syracuse N.Y.
Ronald S. Gellert
Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC; Wilmington, Del.
Richard M. Kremen
DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP; Baltimore
The U.S. Trustee Program (USTP) has a statutory obligation to refer matters to the appropriate U.S. Attorney that relate to the occurrence of any action that may constitute a crime and, at the request of the U.S. Attorney, to assist the U.S. Attorney in carrying out prosecutions based on such action. If bankruptcy judges or private trustees have reasonable grounds to believe that a violation of law relating to bankruptcy has occurred or that an investigation should be initiated, then they shall report the underlying facts and circumstances to the appropriate U.S. Attorney, including the names of all the witnesses and the offenses suspected. Upon receipt of this information, the U.S. Attorney shall inquire into the facts and present the matter to the grand jury if it appears probable that any such offense has been committed, unless upon inquiry and examination the U.S. Attorney decides that the ends of public justice do not require investigation or prosecution, in which case he shall report the facts to the Attorney General for his direction.
Read the full article. (Materials from the 2006
Mid-Atlantic Bankruptcy Workshop)
Fourth Circuit Upholds Bankruptcy Court’s Authority to Avoid a Fraudulent Transfer of Foreign Real Property
by: Irving E. Walker, Gary H. Leibowitz
Saul Ewing LLP; Baltimore
The Presumption Against Extraterritoriality and Doctrine of International Comity
In French v. Liebmann (In re French), 440 F.3d 145 (4th Cir. 2006) (French), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently provided important guidance as to when a bankruptcy court has jurisdiction to avoid a fraudulent transfer of foreign property notwithstanding the presumption against extraterritoriality of U.S. laws and the doctrine of international comity.
20 Questions for Surviving the “Digital Age”
by: Jack Seward
Jack Seward Associates LLC; New York
- Does your firm protect confidential and “privileged” electronic information?
- How many laptops has your firm “lost” during the past five years?
- Does your firm use encryption to protect documents, e-mails, hard drives and off-line storage?
- How does your firm protect electronic information subject to nondisclosure agreements (NDA)?
Minutes from 2006 Annual Spring Meeting
The Alternative Dispute Resolution and Commercial Fraud Task Force Committees held a joint panel presentation at ABI’s 2006 Annual Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C. entitled “Impact of Commercial Bankruptcy Fraud on the ADR Process: How to Avoid The Perfect Bankruptcy Fraud!" The panel included Irving E. Walker of Saul Ewing LLP in Baltimore, Kristin Mihelic of Spector Gadon & Rosen P.C. in Philadelphia and Patricia Brown Fugee of Roetzel & Andress in Toledo, Ohio.
Chief Judge Barbara J. Houser of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas and co-chair of the ADR Committee, and Jack Seward of Jack Seward Associates LLC in New York, co-chair of the Commercial Fraud Task Force Committee, made a short introduction regarding the mission statement of their respective committees and welcomed active participation by those in attendance at this years ASM.
The presentation covered the following topics:
- bankruptcy court jurisdiction over alleged fraud perpetrated on another court;
- electronically-stored information under the new proposed FRCP: and
- uncovering fraud by debtors and insiders in the digital age.
The committees thank the panelists for making this informative information available and acknowledge the efforts of Kathleen P. Makowski of Saul Ewing, LLP for assistance in preparing the material regarding the recent decision by the district court in Tennessee, which addressed the "fraud on the court" issue.