SCOTUS Expands Definition of “Actual Fraud”

By Hon. Michael B. Kaplan, United States Bankruptcy Judge, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey (Trenton)

The Supreme Court of the United States recently issued its opinion in Husky International Electronics v. Ritz, 2016 WL 2842452, putting forth an expanded definition of “actual fraud” to include fraudulent conveyance schemes in the bankruptcy context. The controversy began when the Chrysalis Manufacturing Corp. incurred a debt to Husky International Electronics of approximately $164,000 and rather than paying that debt, Daniel Lee Ritz, the director of Chrysalis, transferred the corporation’s available assets to other entities . . .

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Social Media Scams: Con Artists Target the Vulnerable

Michael B. Joseph

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Social media and internet dating sites have given rise to romance and confidence schemes. Catfishing and spear phishing are extensively used. Catfishing is faking an identity on the internet. Spear phishing uses more sophisticated and direct messages to trick the victim. New AI programs make it easier to reach and victimize the targets. The fraudsters prey upon the elderly, widowed...

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By James J. Robinson, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Alabama Under what circumstances should the trustee object to claims (assuming a purpose would be served under § 707(a)(5))? Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson, 137 S. Ct. 1407 (2017). This case centered around the debtor’s argument that a creditor violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act when it...

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In a recent case out of South Carolina, rather than a debtor seeking sanctions against a creditor, it was the creditor’s counsel who sought sanctions against counsel for a Chapter 13 debtor in an adversary proceeding. Ruling on a Motion for Sanctions in James Defoe v. Winyah Surgical Specialists, P.A. doing business as Winyah Surgical Specialists (In re Defoe), 632...

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(Used with permission. First published in the Southern District of Florida Courthouse Beacon, December 2021) Imagine this is an article entitled Wiley Champion, Esq. Instructs How To Win Your Case Every Time. Enticing for sure. You start reading. The opening paragraph needlessly re-states the title, needlessly names the author, who is already mentioned in the title, and then defines the...

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