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The insolvency case of Guo Wengui, the exiled Chinese businessman, got off to raucous start Tuesday when a longstanding creditor called the move “astonishing” and signaled it would wage an aggressive fight in bankruptcy court, Bloomberg News reported. Guo, a former partner of Trump political strategist Steve Bannon, filed for bankruptcy last month after moving a yacht from New York waters, a shift that would keep it out of the reach of creditors, and then facing a $134 million penalty for taking that step. Guo’s biggest creditor is Pacific Alliance Asia Opportunity Fund, which made a loan of $30 million to the businessman in 2008. That loan has since ballooned to more than $116 million with accrued interest. In papers accompanying his bankruptcy filing, Guo said he had almost no assets and little income. But the businessman has often been seen aboard the yacht at issue, a vessel purchased for about $30 million known as Lady May. A New York judge found last month that Guo owns or controls the yacht, an asset that was not disclosed in his bankruptcy filing. “The lack of candor to this court already is what impels us to believe that no quarter should be given,” Peter Friedman, an attorney for Pacific Alliance Asia Opportunity Fund, said at Guo’s first bankruptcy hearing in Connecticut. Friedman said Guo has “a maze of entities, and family members, and trusted confidants to shift around assets” for him and said he can’t be trusted.

A husband and wife have pleaded guilty to federal charges related to a fraud scheme that included wrongly receiving food assistance, a false bankruptcy and lying to the IRS, officials said, MLive.com reported. Abraham Elsaghir of Dearborn, Mich., pleaded guilty to one count of false statement to an agency of the United States, one count of federal income tax evasion, and one count of bankruptcy fraud, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice. Samar Elsaghir of Dearborn, Mich., pleaded guilty to one count of false statement to an agency of the United States and one count of federal income tax evasion. They both pleaded before Judge Laurie J. Michelson, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. According to information in the plea agreements, in May 2017, Abraham and Samar Elsaghir filed a voluntary chapter 7 petition in bankruptcy and received a discharge of their debts in August 2017. However, the Elsaghirs falsified their bankruptcy report by underreporting their income.

Family caregivers are the backbone of the nation’s long-term care system and provide an estimated $470 billion worth of free care — often at great personal cost, the Wall Street Journal reported. On average, caregivers spend 26% of their personal income on caregiving expenses, according to a 2021 AARP study, with most personal spending going to housing, including home modifications. A third of caregivers dip into their personal savings, like bank accounts, to cover costs, and 12% take out a loan or borrow from family or friends. Amy Goyer is AARP’s family and caregiving expert. She has written two books on the subject and has her own consulting business. “I am a caregiving expert. How did I end up in bankruptcy?” she says. Ms. Goyer depleted her savings and ended up relying on credit cards after being financially drained by costs related to caring for her parents. After more than a decade of caring for her mom, who had a stroke, and her dad, who had Alzheimer’s, Ms. Goyer filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019. She says it shows how the unexpected costs of daily caregiving can accumulate over time and overwhelm even the most experienced of the nation’s 53 million family caregivers. Caregiving is becoming more expensive because people are living longer with more complicated medical needs and hiring help costs more. The median annual cost of in-home care rose to $54,912 in 2020, an 18.5% increase from 2016, according to Genworth, a long-term-care insurance company.

A lawmaker in Rhode Island wants people who file for bankruptcy to be able to keep $500 of their personal savings, the Associated Press reported. Democratic Rep. Arthur Corvese, of North Providence, sponsored a bill to provide protection to people and families in financial distress. The Rhode Island House of Representatives approved it Thursday, sending it to the Senate for consideration. Corvese said that while $500 is not much to a creditor, "it is enough to make sure a family has groceries between paychecks or can handle a car repair so they can continue to get to work.” The legislation would add $500 in savings or other deposits held in a bank or financial institution to the list of assets, such as a family’s clothing and some household furnishings, that are exempt from attachment.