Earlier this week, John Roesser, a former Biglaw associate, was arrested for making false statements and submitting falsified data in the middle of his personal chapter continuing. Roesser was a associate at 5 companies between 2010 and 2018, leaping from Seyfarth Shaw to Winston & Strawn to Alston & Hen to Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer earlier than he lastly landed at Dechert.
Being that he was a Biglaw associate, Roesser’s revenue was “substantial,” however so had been his tax obligations. These allegedly went unpaid, and he resigned from the New York bar in 2020 after he admitted to misappropriating about $100,000 in shopper funds from a post-arbitration settlement.
By 2022, Roesser had filed for Chapter 11 chapter. In keeping with the indictment, owed greater than $3.8 million in unpaid revenue taxes (together with penalties and curiosity) whereas on the identical time dwelling in a multimillion-dollar home and proudly owning an Astin Martin sports activities automotive. The New York Law Journal has the main points on what occurred subsequent:
[Roesser] informed the chapter courtroom that he would quickly obtain thousands and thousands of {dollars} to pay his money owed, in response to the indictment. He then allegedly filed false declarations and submitted falsified financial institution data displaying that he had, in actual fact, obtained thousands and thousands of {dollars}.
“This was false,” prosecutors wrote. “Roesser was concealing that he had not obtained thousands and thousands of {dollars} in any case, in a fraudulent effort to retain management of his belongings whereas avoiding fee of his money owed.”
Roesser was later concerned in sending a $3.9 million test from his debtor-in-possession account for the chapter to the U.S. Treasury for his unpaid taxes, although he knew the account “didn’t have a constructive stability, not to mention ample funds to pay the test.”
U.S. Legal professional Damian Williams (SDNY) stated of the fees that Roesser “ought to have identified higher—he was once a lawyer.” Williams continued, stating, “This Workplace will at all times deliver to justice those that use their standing to abuse the general public’s belief and to attempt to put themselves above the regulation.”
Roesser has been charged with one rely of falsification of data in chapter and one rely of false oaths and claims in chapter. He’s as much as 25 years in jail.
‘Should Have Known Better’: Ex-Am Law 100 Partner Indicted for False Statements, Fake Records in Bankruptcy Proceedings [New York Law Journal]
Former Law Firm Partner Arrested For Bankruptcy Fraud [SDNY / DOJ]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Legislation, the place she’s labored since 2011. She’d love to listen to from you, so please be happy to email her with any suggestions, questions, feedback, or critiques. You may observe her on Twitter or join along with her on LinkedIn.