Where do I need to report bankruptcy fraud

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A year ago I reported Bankruptcy fraud to FBI, to USTP and to Bankruptcy trustee in the state where BK was filed (this fraud affects me personally). Few months ago FBI call me to tell me that they made an investigation and they found out that person failure to report over $100,000 in his BK, Chapter 13. But the United States Attorney’s office requires $1,000,000 loss to initiate prosecution ( I have a written explaination from FBI). Unfortunately, USTP and the Bankruptcy Trustee did not respond to me and no one of them did any investigation (I know this for sure!)! How this possible? How can I make them to take actions? ( I need to mention that I met with an agent of FBI personally, but I sent an email to USTP and to Chapter 13 Trustee ( may be I need to send a mail?

4 Attorney Answers

Best Answer
Failure to disclose assets in a bankruptcy petition can be prosecuted criminally as fraud, but the decision whether to do so is well within the discretion of the US Attorney. Not every failure to disclose will be worthy of criminal prosecution. The role of the Chapter 13 Trustee and US Trustee is to refer cases where their investigations reveal the possibility of knowing non-disclosure. The trustees also have powers to sanction non-criminally under the Bankruptcy Code through such actions as non-dischargability actions and dismissal. If it is clear that the US Attorney is declining to prosecute, contacting the Chapter 13 Trustee about non-criminal sanctions might still be helpful. Be aware that what looks crystal clear and of highest priority to you, may not be to others.
Best wishes for an outcome you can accept, and please remember to designate a best answer.
Best Answer
If this is that important to you, you may have to hire a lawyer to intervene in the BK action to get some formal attention. Popping off email accusations to a trustee is not likely to get the result you seek.
Best Answer
If the FBI investigated and the US attorney chose not to prosecute because the amount of fraud is too low for them to bother with, that is it. The US attorney does not have to prosecute every crime they come across and if they chose not to proceed, then they have prosecutorial discretion and, unfortunately, there is likely nothing further that can be done. They obviously took you allegations seriously enough to have the FBI investigate but the FBI did not find a big enough crime to warrant spending relatively scarce resources pursuing the issue further. The US attorney is who would make the call, not the UST nor the case trustee, and he/she has made it.
Best Answer
You can't force a government agency to take action. The fact that the FBI was nice enough to give you a courtesy call to let you know the outcome of the investigation is surprising. The U.S. attorney has discretion to not prosecute. The chapter 13 trustee has no jurisdiction over fraud, they would just refer it to the U.S. Trustee. At this point, if you want to take this further, you will need to hire a lawyer and determine if you have standing and grounds to havethe BK dismissed.

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