A Monmouth County, N.J., man made his initial court appearance yesterday for allegedly filing a fraudulent bankruptcy petition claiming he had limited assets and hundreds of millions of dollars in liabilities, when, in fact, he had $2.9 million in a hidden bank account, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael Honig announced in a press release. Elia Zois is charged by complaint with one count of concealment in bankruptcy. He is scheduled to appear this afternoon by videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leda Dunn Wettre. According to the complaint, Zois was one of five partners in “Business-2,” a New Jersey-based health care organization that maintained approximately 50 senior living facilities throughout New Jersey, Michigan, and Wisconsin. On Feb. 6, 2019, he and his spouse filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, alleging that between 2014 and 2018 he had only $9,000 in assets and $201 million in liabilities, based upon his partnership in Business-2. A forensic accounting report concluded that during that period Zois received $2.9 million in deposits into the bank account of “Business-1” — of which Zois was the sole owner — including approximately $200,000 in undeclared income after he filed for bankruptcy. The hidden account was intended to conceal a portion of his income to circumvent existing IRS liens on his known assets. The count of concealment in a bankruptcy carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
