For Immediate Release
September 20, 2007

HABBO G. FOKKENA TO SERVE AS U.S. TRUSTEE

IN MICHIGAN AND OHIO FOR INTERIM PERIOD

            WASHINGTON, D.C.–Habbo G. Fokkena, United States Trustee for Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota (Region 12), will also serve as United States Trustee for Michigan and Ohio (Region 9) for an interim period beginning on October 1, 2007, the United States Trustee Program announced today. Mr. Fokkena replaces United States Trustee Saul Eisen, who is retiring after serving in Region 9 since August 2002.

            Mr. Fokkena was first appointed U.S. Trustee for Region 12 in May 2002, and was reappointed in August 2007. From December 2002 to April 2004, he also served as U.S. Trustee for Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming (Region 19). Previously, Mr. Fokkena was a sole practitioner and a chapter 7 panel trustee administering bankruptcy cases in the Northern District of Iowa. He has also held the positions of city attorney and county attorney, and he served in the U.S. Army. Mr. Fokkena received his law degree from the University of Iowa College of Law in Iowa City, and his undergraduate degree from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

            The U.S. Trustee Program is the component of the Justice Department that protects the integrity of the bankruptcy system by overseeing case administration and litigating to enforce the bankruptcy laws. The Program has 21 regions and 95 field offices. Region 9 is headquartered in Cleveland, with additional offices in Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, and Detroit and Grand Rapids, Mich.

Contact:          Jane Limprecht, Public Information Officer

                       Executive Office for U.S. Trustees

                       (202) 305-7411

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