Ocean county, n.J, owner of landscaping business
pleads guilty to bankruptcy fraud
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
May 1, 2012 |
NEWARK, N.J. – An Ocean County, N.J., man today admitted concealing assets in connection with his November 2008 bankruptcy petition, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Bryan Young, 39, of Toms River, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Claire C. Cecchi in Newark federal court to an Information charging him with bankruptcy fraud.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Young was the sole owner and operator of a landscaping business, Brys Landscaping, d/b/a AAA Interlocking Pavers, in Lakewood, N.J. On Nov. 5, 2008, Young, who was then a resident of Toms River, filed for individual Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey. In his bankruptcy petition, Young concealed almost $200,000 in personal assets from the U.S. Trustee, the bankruptcy case trustee, and creditors. Young claimed in the petition that he had $100 in cash on hand, $3,000 in a checking account, $3,700 in household goods and furnishings, $450 in clothing, a 2006 Ford F-350 valued at $8,000, and no other personal property of any kind not already listed in the petition. However, Young actually had approximately $174,865 in at least two financial accounts, approximately $13,000 in household goods and furnishings, and an additional 2003 Ford truck valued at approximately $10,000, around the time he filed the petition.
The count of bankruptcy fraud to which Young pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Sentencing is currently scheduled for August 7, 2012.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward; IRS – Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge JoAnn S. Zuniga, and Region 3 U.S. Trustee Roberta DeAngelis and the Newark office of the U.S. Trustee, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Mendelsohn of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.
This case was brought in coordination with President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.
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Defense counsel: Keith Hirschorn Esq., Hoboken, N.J.
