- Citation:
- No. 14-13-4099 (10th Cir. Aug. 12, 2014)
- Tag(s):
-
- Ruling:
- The Tenth Circuit affirmed the debtor-appellant’s conviction for attempting to conceal an asset from the trustee in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 152(1) and perpetrating a hoax regarding the transmission of a biological agent in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 175. Concluding that the trustee’s questions of the debtor about the truth and accuracy of his schedules were temporally ambiguous, the Tenth Circuit reversed the debtor’s conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 152(2) for making a false oath in answering those questions.
- Procedural context:
- Appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court convicting a chapter 13 debtor of commiting bankruptcy crimes under 18 U.S.C. § 152 and perpetrating a hoax involving a biological agent through threats made by the debtor to the trustee. Reviewed for plain error.
- Facts:
- During the case—and without alerting the chapter 13 trustee—Appellant listed a real estate parcel for sale and entered a sale contract for the parcel. After being alerted to the pending sale, the trustee directed the title company to cancel the pending sale and subsequently executed a new contract with the same purchaser for the same purchase price. Concluding that the unauthorized postpetition contract was merely voidable (not void) and therefore gave rise to a property interest that was required to be disclosed to the trustee, the Tenth Circuit affirmed the debtor’s conviction for “knowingly and fraudulently” concealing property of the debtor’s estate. On the count of making a false oath, the Tenth Circuit noted that it was unclear whether the trustee’s questions referred to the accuracy of the debtor’s schedules at the time they were signed or at the time of questioning, and that the govnerment’s own conflicting positions conceded the ambiguity. Citing its prior holding on the effect of such ambiguity in US v. Farmer, 137 F.3d 1265 (10th Cir. 1998), the Tenth Circuit found clear error and reversed.
- Judge(s):
- Lucero, Hartz, and Holmes.
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