USTP Press Release
For Immediate Release
February 22, 2000
NEW MEXICO MAN PLEADS GUILTY
TO WIRE FRAUD IN CONNECTION
WITH CHAPTER 7 BANKRUPTCY CASE
ALBUQUERQUE--Gaylen Hinkeldey,
currently residing in Palm Springs, Calif., pleaded guilty
today in the District Court for the District of New Mexico
to one count of wire fraud in connection with his 1992 Chapter
7 bankruptcy case, United States Trustee Brenda Moody Whinery
announced.
"Hinkeldey attempted to use
wire communications to hide more than $55,000 from his creditors,"
Whinery stated. "The bankruptcy laws make it clear that all
property must be disclosed to the court, the bankruptcy trustee,
and creditors. Failure to disclose can result in criminal
prosecution."
When Hinkeldey filed for Chapter
7 relief in 1992, he was entitled to the proceeds of a real
estate contract that provided for a balloon payment of $55,165
to be made in March 1996. Nonetheless, he did not disclose
this asset on his bankruptcy papers. The Chapter 7 bankruptcy
trustee learned of the asset and informed Hinkeldey that it
was property of the bankruptcy estate.
Subsequently, Hinkeldey learned
that he would receive the balloon payment in July 1994. He
did not tell the bankruptcy trustee of the early payment.
Instead, he concealed receipt of the payment by withdrawing
approximately $33,000 of the payment from one account and
redepositing most of this money in $3,000 increments to bank
accounts in his name.
To execute this scheme, Hinkeldey
knowingly and intentionally transmitted and caused to be transmitted
the payment by means of wire communication in interstate commerce
from the Citizen's First National Bank in Storm Lake, Iowa,
to Hinkeldey's personal account at First Interstate Bank in
Palm Desert, Calif., in violation of 18 USC 1343.
The Albuquerque office of
the United States Trustee assisted the United States Attorney
in investigating this case. The United States Trustee Program
is a component of the Justice Department that monitors the
administration of bankruptcy cases nationwide. Whinery is
the United States Trustee for Arizona and New Mexico.
Contact: Brenda Moody Whinery,
United States Trustee, Region 20
(602)
640-2100
Jane Limprecht, Public Information Officer
Executive Office for United States Trustees
(202) 305-7411
[End]
|