A San Bernardino County, Calif., man who worked as a bankruptcy petition preparer (BPP) was arrested on Friday on federal criminal charges that allege he acted as an unlicensed attorney in bankruptcy cases, charged fees well over those permitted by law and then repeatedly lied to the U.S. bankruptcy court, according to a DOJ press release. Richard Allen Mease of Victorville, Calif., was taken into custody this morning by special agents with the FBI. The indictment, which was returned on Wednesday by federal grand jury, charges Mease with four counts of making a false statement in a bankruptcy proceeding. The indictment alleges that, on at least four separate occasions, Mease concealed his identity as a BPP on bankruptcy petitions he prepared on behalf of clients. Under applicable law and regulations, a BPP is permitted to charge fees of up to $200 to prepare and file a bankruptcy petition, but is not permitted to offer or provide legal advice. Mease repeatedly violated these laws and regulations since at least September 2009, charging clients fees well over the legally permitted limit and acting as an unlicensed lawyer, the indictment alleges. In response to these violations, a bankruptcy court in 2011 barred him from acting as a BPP after he had charged a client more than $1,000 for BPP services and provided legal advice, according to the indictment. In 2013, the bankruptcy court issued another order holding Mease in contempt of court for continuing to prepare bankruptcy petitions in violation of the injunction. But Mease allegedly continued to break the law and violate the court’s injunction against him. If convicted of all charges, Mease would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
