bankruptcyMisconduct.com presents the
following links to various criminal statutes, regulations,
publications, DOJ offices, reference sites, notable professional firms in the industry, and commentary which relate to issues such as attorney misconduct, professional misconduct in federal bankruptcy courts, corruption, bankruptcy fraud, and bankruptcy / distressed investment
a/k/a vulture investing by hedge funds and private equity firms. A listing of any professional or firm on this page is for reference purposes, and is not an indication or claim by bankruptcyMisconduct.com that such person or firm has been found to have engaged in any misconduct. (If you would like your site added, please contact us)
SEC Regulations
Beyond the civil aspect of SEC
Regulations, SEC forms are completed under criminal penalties for
false statements & ommissions. For example form NTN-10K
includes the warning: ATTENTION
Intentional misstatements or omissions of fact constitute federal
criminal violations (see 18 U.S.C. § 1001).
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002An act passed by U.S. Congress to protect investors from the possibility of fraudulent accounting activities by corporations.
No
showing of scienter is required to establish a
violation of Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. SEC v.
Savoy, 587 F.2d 1149, 1167 (D.C. Cir. 1978).
Section
13(a) of the Exchange Act and Rule 13a-11 require issuers of
securities registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act to
file with the Commission current reports on Form 8-K within 4 business days of the
occurrence of certain events including the departure of
directors or principal officers. See also: Section 5 -
Corporate Governance and Management; Item 5.01 Changes in Control of
Registrant; Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers;
Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain
Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
Item
5.02(a) of Form 8-K specifies that if a director has resigned
because of a disagreement with the registrant,
known to an executive officer of the registrant, on any matter
relating to the registrant’s operations, policies, or
practices the registrant must, among other
things, disclose a brief description of the circumstances
representing the disagreement that the registrant
believes caused, in whole or in part, the director’s
resignation.{See 18 U.S.C. § 2 Principals}
Federal Criminal Statutes
The following statutes envelope all parties aiding, abetting,
causing, or profiting from certain criminal conduct. Agentes, et
consentientes, pari poena puniendi. FYI, The United
States is defined to include the DOJ, and thus a fraud upon a
U.S. Trustee is a fraud upon the United States.
Title
18 U.S.C. § 2 Principals.
(a) Whoever commits an offense against the United States or aids,
abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures its
commission, is punishable as a principal. (b) Whoever willfully
causes an act to be done which if directly performed by him or
another would be an offense against the United States, is punishable
as a principal.
Title 18 U.S.C. § 3 Accessory
after the fact. Whoever,
knowing that an offense against the United States has been
committed, receives, relieves,
comforts or assists the offender in order to hinder or prevent his
apprehension, trial or punishment, is an accessory after the
fact.
Title
18 U.S.C. § 4Misprision
of felony.
Whoever, having knowledge of the actual commission of a
felony cognizable by a court of the United States, conceals
and does not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge
or other person in civil or military authority under the United
States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than
three years, or
both.
Fraud upon the government (encompasses without limitation fraud upon the SEC, a Federal
Court, or a U.S. Trustee), False Declarations, Destruction or hiding
documents, Bankruptcy Crimes, etc.
Title
18 U.S.C. § 1001 (a) Except as otherwise provided
in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of
the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of
the United States, knowingly and willfully—
(1) falsifies,
conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material
fact;
(2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent
statement or representation; or
(3) makes or uses any false
writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially
false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry;
shall be
fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5
years. {Note: statutes such as 18 U.S.C. § 2 Principals and 18 U.S.C. § 3 Accessory
after the fact are particularly relevant when professionals advise or prepare sworn forms.}
Title
18 U.S.C. § 152 Concealment of assets; false oaths
and claims; bribery. Crimes specified in this section include: a
false oath or declaration before a court and destruction or
witholding of evidence. Apparantly, some suffer a cognitive
dissonance as they act as if these laws do not also
apply to the actions of an attorney.
Title
18 U.S.C. § 153. Embezzlement against estate (a) Offense.— A person described in subsection (b) who knowingly and fraudulently appropriates to the person’s own use, embezzles, spends, or transfers any property or secretes or destroys any document belonging to the estate of a debtor shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.
(b) Person to Whom Section Applies.— A person described in this subsection is one who has access to property or documents belonging to an estate by virtue of the person’s participation in the administration of the estate as a trustee, custodian, marshal, attorney, or other officer of the court or as an agent, employee, or other person engaged by such an officer to perform a service with respect to the estate.
Title
18 U.S.C. § 157. Bankruptcy fraud A person who, having devised or intending to devise a scheme or artifice to defraud and for the purpose of executing or concealing such a scheme or artifice or attempting to do so—
(1) files a petition under title 11, including a fraudulent involuntary bankruptcy petition under section 303 of such title;
(2) files a document in a proceeding under title 11, including a fraudulent involuntary bankruptcy petition under section 303 of such title; or
(3) makes a false or fraudulent representation, claim, or promise concerning or in relation to a proceeding under title 11, including a fraudulent involuntary bankruptcy petition under section 303 of such title, at any time before or after the filing of the petition, or in relation to a proceeding falsely asserted to be pending under such title,
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.
Title
18 U.S.C. § 3057Judges and Trustees must
refer every crime to a district attorney.
§
956. Services of Lawyer Obtained to Aid in Commission of Crime or Fraud There is no privilege under this article if the services of the lawyer were sought or obtained to enable or aid anyone to commit or plan to commit a crime or a fraud. (Added by Stats. 1965, ch. 299, operative January 1, 1967.) Note: We believe this includes violations of SEC rules, statutes, and related 18 U.S.C. § 1001 crimes
§
132. Every person who upon any trial, proceeding, inquiry, or
investigation whatever, authorized or permitted by law, offers in
evidence, as genuine or true, any book, paper, document, record, or
other instrument in writing, knowing the same to have been forged or
fraudulently altered or ante-dated, is guilty of felony.
§
133. Every person who practices any fraud or deceit, or
knowingly makes or exhibits any
false statement, representation, token, or writing, to any witness
or person about to be called as a witness upon any trial,
proceeding, inquiry,
or investigation whatever, authorized by law, with
intent to affect the testimony of such witness, is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
§
134. Every person guilty of preparing
any false or ante-dated book, paper, record, instrument in writing,
or other matter or thing, with intent to produce it, or
allow it to be produced for any fraudulent or deceitful purpose, as
genuine or true, upon any trial, proceeding, or inquiry whatever,
authorized by law, isguilty of
felony.
§
135. Every person who, knowing that any book, paper, record,
instrument in writing, or other matter or thing, is about to be
produced in evidence upon any trial, inquiry, or investigation
whatever, authorized by law, willfully destroys or conceals the
same, with intent thereby to prevent it from being produced, is
guilty of a misdemeanor.
Prominent, Profitable, or Notable Firms & Member Professionals of the Bankruptcy Industry
Bingham McCutchen LLP
Priceless Quote: "The best lawyers know how to balance aggression with delicate handling"
Hennigan, Bennett & Dorman LLP
Priceless Quote: We employ "outside the box" strategies to end commercial disputes quickly and advantageously for our clients.
Harvey R. Miller Priceless quote: “At my age, [compensation is] not a consideration. It’s more a question of happiness.”
Mr. Miller confessed that another benefit of returning to Weil is a return to its location in the General Motors building on Fifth Avenue, “across from Bergdorf’s men’s shop and close to Barneys.”
PricewaterhouseCoopers Priceless quote: The related stock option backdating investigations and enforcement actions undertaken by the SEC at some companies are causing many directors, even at companies untouched by the issue, to wonder whether other risks simply haven't hit their radar screens—prompting the question, "How do you know what you don't know?"
Benjamin Franklin Priceless quote: “People who live in glass houses should not hire agents who throw stones”
Academia: Professors and Publications
Prof.
Lynn M. LoPuckiSecurity Pacific Bank Professor of Law, UCLA
Law Publication Courting
Failure Author: Lynn LoPucki. Courting
Failure - How Competition for Big Cases Is Corrupting the Bankruptcy
Courts. "An eye-opening account of the
widespread and systematic decay of America's bankruptcy courts."
Leslie
C. LevinAssociate Professor of Law, University of
Connecticut School of Law Publication The
Emperor’s Clothes and Other Tales About the Standards for
Imposing Lawyer Discipline SanctionsAuthor: Leslie
C. Levin The Emperor’s Clothes and Other Tales About
the Standards for Imposing Lawyer Discipline
Sanctions,48AM.U.L.REV.1,62&n.275 (1998) "It
appears that bias may occur not only in the imposition of
discipline, but also in the investigation of possible problems."
Executive
Office for U.S. TrusteesThe top level office of the DOJ
which is in charge of all U.S. Trustee's whose duty is to monitor
bankruptcy cases on issues including "conflict of interest"
and that any crime is reported as mandated under Title 18 U.S.C. §
3057
The
Office of Professional ResponsibilityReports
directly to the Attorney General, is
responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct involving
Department attorneys that relate to the exercise of their authority
to investigate, litigate or provide legal advice, as well as
allegations of misconduct by law enforcement personnel when they are
related to allegations of attorney misconduct within the
jurisdiction of OPR. The objective of OPR is to ensure that
Department of Justice attorneys continue to perform their duties in
accordance with the high professional standards expected of the
Nation's principal law enforcement agency. misconduct within the
jurisdiction of OPR.
Policing the Bench The San Francisco Examiner"a three-part series spotlighting California's judicial discipline system"
The Brotherhood: Justice For Lawyers The San Francisco Examiner"a six part series detailing flaws in the California lawyer discipline system, which prompted state-wide reform and new legislation. "
TOP
SECRET: Lawyers On TrialAmerican Journalism Review, By
Mary Collins - "In most states the lawyers
who hear complaints about lawyers keep them from the public and the
press."
Courting
Failure Author: Lynn LoPucki. Courting
Failure - How Competition for Big Cases Is Corrupting the Bankruptcy
Courts. "An eye-opening account of the widespread
and systematic decay of America's bankruptcy courts."
Ethical Problems In The Practice Of Law Authors: Lisa G. Lerman and Philip G. SchragAspen Publishers "Many scholars and consumer advocates observe that the rules governing lawyers are more protective of lawyers and impose less regulatory contraint than they would if state legislatures wrote them."
Industry Publications, Pundits, and Blogs
Above The Law
inside information on the workings of law firms
The
Cato Institute seeks to broaden the parameters of public
policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American
principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets
and peace. Toward that goal, the Institute strives to achieve
greater involvement of the intelligent, concerned lay public in
questions of policy and the proper role of government.
Citizens against Bankruptcy Fraud
It remains our goal to halt Fraud on the Court by those who would steal from any person by pretense or “color of law”.
FRAUD ON THE COURT
An End to Fraud on the Court. This Blog is intended to keep the public informed as to our efforts to secure Congressional Hearings for “Fraud on the Court.”
Wells of Justice
"The Foremost Comprehensive Web Site On Bankruptcy Court Corruption"
OverLawyered Chronicling
the high cost of our legal system
Laser Haas Written by Guest on 2007-10-28 14:27:18David there are a group of us from Wells of Justice, wjfa.net and frauduponthecourt.blogspot.com that are putting together a coalition. Email me when you have a chance at
FOIA
Bingham McCutchen associates sequentially victimized by Date Rape Drug
