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ABI Journal

Commercial Fraud Committee

commercial-fraud

The unique purpose and role of a special committee in Delaware corporate law has been exhaustively examined by courts.

Co-Chairs’ Corner

As a great 2024 comes to a close, we look forward to an exciting 2025. At this year’s Winter Leadership Conference in December, we co-hosted a timely panel with the Ethics and Professional Compensation Committee.

The doctrine of in pari delicto is “[t]he principle that a plaintiff who has participated in wrongdoing may not recover damages resulting from the wrongdoing.” [1] This article seeks to provide a general overview of the in pari delicto doctrine, and the relevant intersections between the doctrine and its exceptions.

Co-Chairs’ Corner

We are closing to books on an eventful 2023 and looking forward to a busy 2024. Between the travails of FTX and the numerous lesser frauds, the expertise of our members is in constant demand. This coming year, we plan to host webinars and committee video calls, which will resemble webinars but will be interactive.

The Supreme Court may have expanded the types of debts that are exempt from discharge under § 523 of the Code. In Bartenwerfer v. Buckley [1], the Court held that § 523 bars the discharge of a debt arising from fraud committed by the debtor’s business partner.

The Bankruptcy Code includes nine defenses to a trustee’s ability to avoid a pre-petition transfer as a preference. One of those defenses — codified at 11 U.S.C.

Articles in theABI Journal, [1] committee newsletters [2] and conference materials [3] have been addressing various circumstances in which nonbankruptcy alternatives, such as receiverships and assignments for the benefit of creditors (ABC), offer strategic be

A new administration always brings changes to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Whereas here the new President is of a different party than the outgoing President, changes are more pronounced. The composition of the Commission changes moving from a Republican majority to a Democratic majority.

An Insolvency Primer

Conducting a thorough investigation of a debtor’s pre-petition activity can yield potential preference and fraudulent-transfer claims that can be valuable assets in a bankruptcy estate. Identifying potentially avoidable transfers goes hand in hand with evaluating the debtor’s financial condition to determine whether the debtor was insolvent when the transfer was made.

Bank records are of particular interest and importance to forensic accountants and receivers, as they reflect an entity’s actual financial history. In fact, bank records can tell a powerful story. We identified bank statements in several of our investigations that were electronically manipulated to reflect deceptive and fraudulent statement entries.

Fraud, Forensics and Defenses

This panel provides an in-depth, dynamic discussion on (1) forensic analyses employed to identify and untangle fraud and maximize recoveries; (2) standing to bring certain claims in fraud cases; (3) claims often pursued in Ponzi and other fraud cases, including aiding and abetting fraud, aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty, and conspiracy; (4) the Ponzi scheme presumption, clawback and defenses; and (5) in pari delicto and its applicability, along with other potential defenses.

This session will provide an overview of recent high-profile cases, including those of FTX, Kenneth Chesebro, Rudy Giuliani and Judge David R. Jones, and discuss the ethical issues raised, including the limits of advocacy, responsibility of the profession, duty of candor and truthfulness, prohibition on assisting in criminal activity, and the duty to report professional misconduct.

Ponzi and other fraudulent schemes continue to proliferate. Many of these schemes, event if primarily targeted at Americans, operate using offshore entities in the Caribbean. As a result, resolving such schemes typically involves domestic receiverships or bankruptcy coupled with offshore liquidation proceedings. The victims’ recoveries may vary widely depending on whether the distribution of the scheme’s remaining assets is determined by U.S. bankruptcy law, U.S. common law or foreign law. This panel will explore the various ways in which U.S.

UFTA/UVTA Issues

Over the last several years, an increasing number of states, including New York, have adopted the UniformVoidable Transactions Act (UVTA), the latest update to the Uniform Voidable Transfer Act. The UVTA made a number of minor changes and updates to the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (UFTA), including changingthe name. What changes were significant? What opportunities to fix problems/vagaries in the UFTA did the drafters miss? What amendments should the UVTA drafters consider?

Recent large bankruptcies like NRA, Boy Scouts of America, Roman Catholic Archdiocese, Purdue Pharma and J&J have invigorated debate over the longstanding issues of venue and bad faith in bankruptcy. This panel will explore matters surrounding venue and bad-faith filings, related ethics considerations, and the newest wave of reform initiatives.

The webinar panel, comprised of bankruptcy lawyers, a panel bankruptcy trustee and a financial advisor, will delve into what occurs when an individual debtor files bankruptcy and fails to properly disclose their assets. The discussion will include methods of investigating and discovering hidden assets and the means by which a trustee can successfully recover the assets for the bankruptcy estate. The panel will also address defenses that a debtor may raise, including exemptions, tenants by the entirety, or business assets transferred to trusts.

Hosted by the Bankruptcy Litigation and Commercial Fraud Committees. This panel will explore whether and how far U.S. avoidance provisions might apply extraterritorially, and will discuss the challenges and pitfalls of alternate theories of recovery.

This webinar will focus on the criminal bankruptcy fraud provisions of Title 28. The presentation will use examples from well-known bankruptcy fraud cases to illustrate how these laws play out in practice. The presentation will also touch on other criminal statutes (e.g., mail and wire fraud) that are frequently implicated in bankruptcy fraud cases.

In Janvey v. Golf Channel, Inc., No. 13-11305 (5th Cir. Aug. 22, 2016), arising from the SEC enforcement action against Stanford International Bank, Ltd., pending in the U.S. District Court for the N.D. Tex., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit addressed the issue of whether trade creditors who fully perform in the ordinary course at market rates provide reasonably equivalent value to a Ponzi scheme, under the Bankruptcy Code and fraudulent transfer law in Texas (and beyond).

This panel hosted by the Commercial Fraud and Secured Credit Committee will take a fresh look at secured creditor rights and unique solvency issues in fraud and Ponzi cases. Learn how to avoid being trumped in federal forfeiture proceedings or paying on bankruptcy clawback claims by treading in the safe harbor of § 546(e) — and learn how to navigate the shoals of receivership.

Alyson M. Fiedler Esq.

Alyson M. Fiedler Esq.

Co-Chair

New York, NY

Ice Miller LLP

(212) 835-6315

Julia Di Fiore Byrne

Julia Di Fiore Byrne

Co-Chair

Austin, TX

Reid Collins & Tsai LLP

(512) 647-6132

Wes Bulgarella

Wes Bulgarella

Communications Manager

Birmingham, AL

Maynard Nexsen, PC

(205) 254-1875

Simon Dickson

Simon Dickson

Education Director

Camana Bay,

Mourant Ozannes

Samantha Oppenheim

Samantha Oppenheim

Newsletter Editor

New Orleans, LA

Jones Walker

(504) 582-8641

Aaron M. Kaufman

Aaron M. Kaufman

Special Projects Leader

Dallas, TX

Gray Reed LLP

(469) 320-6050

Amy A. Quackenboss

Amy A. Quackenboss

Executive Director

Alexandria, VA

American Bankruptcy Institute

(703) 739-0800

Chris S. Thackston

Chris S. Thackston

Staff

Alexandria, VA

American Bankruptcy Institute

(703) 739-0800

Carolyn M. Kanon

Carolyn M. Kanon

Staff

Alexandria, VA

American Bankruptcy Institute

(703) 739-0800

Jourdana Claibourn

Jourdana Claibourn

Staff

Alexandria, VA

American Bankruptcy Institute

(703) 739-0800

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