Indictments for Bankruptcy Fraud in South Carolina
In these difficult economic times, more americans have been filing for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 compared to previous years. As a result, the government has increased the number of bankruptcy fraud indictments in South Carolina. Bankruptcy fraud is covered in 18 U.S.C. section 152 and includes a variety of offense conduct, including concealment of assets, lying during a bankruptcy proceeding, false claims, knowingly receiving property from the debtor and omission of assets on a bankruptcy petition.
The corresponding United States Sentencing Guideline is 2B1.1(b). Under this guideline, the amount of loss is an important sentencing factor because it can greatly increase a defendant's base offense level. For example, the base offense level for bankruptcy fraud is a level 6, however, a ten-level increase is applied if the amount of loss is more than $120,000.00. The amount of loss is the amount of loss caused by the fraud. A federal defense attorney will want to calculate this figure as early as possible in the case so that it can be decreased or capped at a certain amount. When calculating an offender's amount of loss, the sentencing court considers the amount of debt discharged or the amount that was intended to be discharged, as well as the value of any concealed or omitted assets from the bankruptcy proceedings. In certain circumstances, the district court may also consider intended loss when calculating this figure.
Other sentencing enhancements for bankruptcy fraud include the use of sophisticated means, multiple victims affected by the fraud and misrepresentation during the course of a bankruptcy proceeding, which is almost always applied in these types of cases. If the offense involved 10 or more victims, a two-level enhancement is applied to a defendant's base offense level. Victims may include creditors. If a defendant uses sophisticated means to perpetrate the fraud, another two-level increase is applied during the sentencing hearing. Sophisticated means is especially complex acts or methods which assist in concealing the offense conduct. This includes using offshore accounts or shell corporations as well as setting up fictitious entities.
A federal attorney will object to these enhancements which are listed in a offender's pre-sentence investigation report. A probation officer prepares the pre-sentence investigation report, but the ultimate decision to apply these enhancements rests with the District Court judge. Therefore, an experienced federal lawyer will file written objections to these enhancements in order to save their clients substantial prison time at the sentencing.
The Mace Firm handles all types of fraud cases, including bankruptcy fraud, mortgage fraud and bank fraud. If you have been indicted for fraud, you will need to hire a criminal attorney who handles federal cases. Federal attorneys are familiar with the United States Sentencing Guidelines and will therefore be able to effectively represent you against the government.
