Press Releases

The Justice Department’s U.S. Trustee Program (USTP) brought enforcement actions against two consumer bankruptcy attorneys who hid their involvement in schemes to acquire their clients’ homes.

A Minnesota businessman was sentenced to 21 months in prison for evading the payment of federal individual income taxes he owed for the years 2007 through 2019.

Two bankruptcy petition preparers who hid their involvement while providing unauthorized legal advice to debtors in foreclosure were barred from providing bankruptcy-related services, thanks to enforcement actions by the Justice Department’s U.S. Trustee Program (USTP).

PEORIA, Ill. – Pere Marquette Hotel developers Gary E. Matthews and Monte J. Brannan were sentenced yesterday in federal court. Matthews, 81, of the 400 block of Highview Road in East Peoria, Illinois, has been sentenced to 40 months in the Bureau of Prisons. Brannan, 71, of the 3200 block of North Elmcroft Terrace, Peoria, Illinois was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment.

KEITH DOUGLAS FREEMAN allegedly concealed from creditors his assets and sources of income.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On April 3, 2024, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned a ten-count indictment charging Osakwe Ismael Osagbue with mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341, wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, falsification of bankruptcy records in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1519, and aggravated identity theft in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A in connection with his scheme to defraud twenty-eight federal bankruptcy courts, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.

BECKY LOUISE SUTTON fraudulently embezzled the funds from 2009 to 2018 while working on bankruptcy matters for the law firm.

Two bankruptcy petition preparers that lacked legal credentials yet provided legal advice and disregarded disclosure requirements were barred from providing bankruptcy-related services, thanks to enforcement actions by the Justice Department’s U.S. Trustee Program (USTP).

The Justice Department’s U.S. Trustee Program (USTP) prevented the payment of bonuses to an executive of three small businesses that had stopped operating and already had sold their assets in bankruptcy.

PEORIA, Ill. – A Peoria, Illinois man, Chad D. Campen, 34, of the 6100 block of Pfeiffer Road, pleaded guilty on March 5, 2024, to one count of bank fraud, three counts of wire fraud, one count of money laundering, one count of bankruptcy fraud, and one count of false statements under oath.