Fraud

Hosted by the Commercial Fraud Committee This webinar will focus on the criminal bankruptcy fraud provisions of Title 28. The presentation will use examples from well-known bankruptcy fraud cases to illustrate how these laws play out in practice. The presentation will also touch on other criminal statutes (e.g., mail and wire fraud) that are frequently implicated in bankruptcy fraud cases. View Materials

This panel comprised of white collar legal specialists, prosecutors and litigators will discuss the various bankruptcy crime and fraud topics including 18 U.S.C. § 157, 11 U.S.C. §§ 523 and 727 and the Supreme Court’s recent decisions in Shaw v. United States and Husky International Electronics, Inc. v. Ritz.

This panel discusses attorney’s duty to uphold the law and how bankruptcy counsel must avoid “crossing the line” while representing his client, the result being not just civil, but criminal, liability.

How do you come to understand a business whose very survival was dependent on ensuring that nobody could understand the business? When administering Ponzi-related bankruptcies, actions taken at the outset are often determinative of the results, but what do you do when the books and records are fiction? This panel will focus on the role of financial professionals in Ponzi scheme bankruptcies, including the initial investigation, establishing the existence of a Ponzi scheme, determining who the “winners” and “losers” are, seeking additional recoveries (including chapter 5 actions and other litigation), making distributions and negotiating settlements.

What are bankruptcy crimes, what are the duties of the various parties in a case to investigate and report them, and what are the protections for those who do? The panelists will discuss actual-intent fraudulent transfers and the crime/fraud exception; recent cases suggest that a “fraud” that may trigger the crime/fraud exception to attorney/client privilege and that the work-product doctrine may not be limited to crimes and serious frauds, but rather may include transactions exhibiting only some “badges of fraud,” such as fraudulent transfers (Fragin, Husky International).

Presented by the Bankruptcy Litigation and Commercial Fraud Committees

This panel will feature a roundtable discussion with bankruptcy judges from the Ninth Circuit and across the country. The judges will share their thoughts and perspectives, as well as take questions from the audience, on topics of current interest in both business and consumer cases.

This panel will address the unique issues presented when matters involving fraud, including Ponzi schemes, arise. The discussion will include best practices for responding to, or managing, fraud allegations directed to a client inside and outside of bankruptcy, addressing and investigating fraud from an accounting perspective (including strategies for identifying hallmarks of fraud), and current developments in case law relating to fraud and Ponzi schemes in the bankruptcy context.

A roundtable discussion with a select group of bankruptcy judges will focus on breaking issues and best practices for professionals.