A federal bankruptcy judge has ordered U.S. Marshals to arrest Jonathan Burden to force him to show up in court, after the self-proclaimed real estate investor failed to pay $26,800 in sanctions and failed yet again to show up for a hearing, WWLTV.com reported. Burden is accused in at least seven lawsuits of tricking New Orleans area homeowners into signing over their properties to him and, in some of the cases, of filing false documents to seize people’s homes out from under them. He has repeatedly ignored court orders and tied up those cases in civil court, even while the FBI and New Orleans Police Department investigate him over the allegations of criminal fraud. But Thursday was the first time a judge has ordered Burden to be forced into court, with U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Grabill issuing the order to force Burden to appear at a hearing on Nov. 30. It’s unclear when federal marshals plan to arrest him or if they will hold him in jail until the hearing.
