Thunberg v. Wallick (In re Thunberg)
- Citation:
- No. 10-1705
- Tag(s):
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- Ruling:
- The Circuit Court affirmed the Bankruptcy Court’s revocation of the Chapter 7 Debtor’s discharge. Although the Debtor avoided making explicitly false statements to the Bankruptcy Court, the Circuit Court held that the Bankruptcy Court’s findings of fact were not clearly erroneous because based on the Debtor’s pattern of evasion, silence in the face of culpable knowledge and inferences drawn from the Debtor’s conduct a finding of fraudulent intent was reasonable.
- Procedural context:
- Debtor appeals from Bankruptcy Court and District Court rulings revoking the Debtor's discharge.
- Facts:
- The Debtor filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and received a discharge. A year and a half later, the Bankruptcy Trustee discovered that the Debtor had misrepresented an interest that the debtor had received from a settlement agreement with his ex-wife. Specifically, the Debtor falsely asserted that a property settlement included in the agreement was subject to two liens, accelerated payments of the settlement without advising the trustee or court, and used two sets of payments for private purposes without the permission of the Court. Based on these actions, the Bankruptcy Court revoked the Debtor’s discharge. The Debtor appealed claiming that none of these actions evidence any type of fraudulent intent but rather were simply the result of honest mistakes.
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