Hire a Federal Bankruptcy Fraud Lawyer

So, you’ve found yourself on the wrong end of a lawsuit pertaining to bankruptcy, and you’ve been indicted for federal bankruptcy fraud? We’re able to help break down various services as well as important elements to better prepare our clients.

The Zoukis Consulting Group is there to help with your case. Our experienced and knowledgeable team of bankruptcy fraud lawyers will go to court and defend your rights. Call us today.

How Did We Get Here?

There are endless ways in which a client comes to find our services. Bankruptcy fraud is a serious offense wherein an individual owes money to an entity but does not have the means to repay it. You have to have filed for bankruptcy to be indicted on any bankruptcy fraud charges.

Most individuals come to bankruptcy by going into debt with a lender and not paying back the debt and interest. Mortgages, student loans, and various financial strains, including gambling addiction and medical bills, can lead to declaring bankruptcy. However, unlike the game Monopoly, you don’t just get to leave the game. In real life, that blemish on your credit can cause future monetary endeavors to become unobtainable.

So, if you are bankrupt, you essentially start the game over, which can sometimes be more advantageous than paying the debt off. This is where the law comes into play, as all those who claim bankruptcy must claim any and all assets, liquid or otherwise. This leads to the charge of bankruptcy fraud and the need for a bankruptcy fraud lawyer. 

What Is Bankruptcy Fraud?

In brief, it is used as a means to conceal assets to avoid having to forfeit them during a bankruptcy liquidation. A person can intentionally file incomplete forms or file multiple times in different states using various truthful and untruthful information. Most bankruptcy fraud deals with the concealment of assets or transfer of unrevealed assets to keep them hidden.

It can be something as inconspicuous as petition mills to deliberate laundering of assets and cash. Petition mills, for example, pretend to be a financial advisor who promises to help a desperate person’s debt problems disappear.

Sounding a lot like a mafia protection plan, this mill will take your money for financial services, drain your accounts, and then disappear without helping the one bit with your financial troubles. These scams often leave you in the lurch, sinking you into worse debt and often compounding the stress of an already uneasy bankruptcy fraud case.

The consequences for bankruptcy fraud depend on your intentions and the extent of the fraud itself. Potentially, you could face criminal charges for intending to commit fraud even if you have not put a plan into motion.

Civil Bankruptcy Fraud

Civil bankruptcy fraud is often more lenient than federal bankruptcy fraud. In these cases, the consequences might be as simple as requiring you to pay a previous debt in full.

However, more serious penalties include loss of exemptions, in which property you would have saved from creditors can no longer be exempt from paying off your debt.

You could also be subject to forfeiture of discharge rights, meaning your claim of bankruptcy can no longer protect you from creditor actions. You will still maintain all of your previous debt and will not have the option of a fresh financial start. Furthermore, creditors can sue you to force debt payment.

Federal Bankruptcy Fraud

US federal law states that federal bankruptcy fraud is a criminal offense. As such, the legal consequences for you can be extremely severe if charged. You can face a prison sentence, fines, or both.

If you receive a prison sentence for committing bankruptcy fraud, you can receive between five and twenty years. Five years is often the maximum sentence, but if you commit other acts such as perjury or destroying evidence, these along with your charges of bankruptcy fraud will bring you up to twenty years.

If you receive a fine, you might have to pay as much as $250,000.

The highest sentence you can receive will be a fine of $250,000 on top of twenty years in prison.

Hire a Federal Bankruptcy Fraud Attorney Today

Bankruptcy fraud, considered a white-collar crime, can carry with it some heavy and oftentimes unexpected consequences.

As bankruptcy fraud lawyers, we want to make sure we are advocating for your individual needs and helping with the harsh, often bureaucratic, limitations of the federal prison system.

Call the Zoukis Consulting Group today if you’re facing bankruptcy fraud charges and need an expert defense team to stand with you in court.

Schedule your consultation today.