WASHINGTON, D.C.--Attorney General Janet Reno today appointed
Maureen Tighe as United States Trustee to oversee the administration
of bankruptcy cases in the federal judicial district of
Central California. Tighe's appointment as United States
Trustee for Region 16 runs for five years; she will assume
her duties April 1.
The United States Trustee Program is an arm of the Justice
Department that supervises the administration of bankruptcy
cases nationwide. As United States Trustee, Tighe will perform
a variety of duties, including: investigating and assisting
in the prosecution of bankruptcy crimes; appointing and
monitoring professionals employed to represent bankruptcy
estates; assessing the feasibility of Chapter 11 reorganization
plans, and reviewing fee applications of attorneys and other
professionals.
In 1997, 118,335 bankruptcy cases--8.4 percent of the national
case load--were filed in Region 16. The principal office
for Region 16 is located in Los Angeles; other offices are
located in Santa Ana, Calif.; San Bernardino, Calif.; and
Santa Barbara, Calif.
Tighe brings to her new post 10 years of experience in
the Los Angeles office of the United States Attorney. She
has served since 1995 as Deputy Chief of the Major Frauds
Section, supervising 30 Assistant United States Attorneys
who investigate and prosecute a broad spectrum of white-collar
crimes, including bankruptcy fraud, financial institution
fraud, securities and commodity fraud, telemarketing fraud,
and equity skimming and other real estate fraud.
Tighe joined the United States Attorney's office in 1988
under a special program established by the United States
Trustee, and she initially occupied the dual positions of
Special Assistant United States Attorney and Attorney-Adviser
to the United States Trustee's Office. Tighe served as coordinator
of the Central District of California's Bankruptcy Fraud
Task Force, and initiated the nation's first joint United
States Attorney- United States Trustee pilot program to
target bankruptcy fraud.
During her tenure at the United States Attorney's office,
Tighe also designed the first bankruptcy fraud undercover
project in the country, which resulted in 19 bankruptcy
fraud convictions. She helped develop and teach a training
program for federal prosecutors and law enforcement agents
on how to detect, investigate, and prosecute bankruptcy
crimes, as well as how to use information gleaned from bankruptcy
proceedings to investigate and prosecute other offenses.
Additionally, Tighe served as a member of the Attorney General's
Working Group for Bankruptcy Fraud, through which she helped
organize a national bankruptcy fraud "takedown"
in February 1996.
Tighe frequently lectures on bankruptcy fraud, parallel
proceedings, business credit fraud, real estate fraud, and
other white collar crime issues. She has written numerous
Justice Department in-house publications on bankruptcy fraud.
She is admitted to the bar in California, New York, and
New Jersey.
Before Tighe joined the United States Attorney's office,
she worked from 1986 to 1988 as a litigation associate in
the New York office of Sullivan & Cromwell. From 1984
to 1986, she was law clerk to District Judge Harold A. Ackerman
of the District of New Jersey.
Tighe received her Juris Doctor with high honors in 1984
from Rutgers Law School, Newark, N.J., where she was law
review editor-in-chief in 1983-84. She earned a Bachelor
of Arts degree in German with highest honors in 1979 from
Douglass College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.
In 1977-78, Tighe independently applied and matriculated
at Tuebingen University, Tuebingen, West Germany.
Tighe's appointment fills a vacancy created in September
1997, when Marcy J.K. Tiffany resigned as Region 16 United
States Trustee to become general counsel for Hughes Electronic
Corp.
