How bad is it to lie to a federal bankrupcy court? 21 Answers as of July 14, 2011

Perjury (lying under oath) and bankruptcy fraud are serious felonies (serious crimes) that are punishable by fines and prison and can also disqualify the person from the bankruptcy discharge or the case could be dismissed. You have no legal obligation to report it if you are not personally involved but if you want to report it as a good citizen then you can address your letter to the Chapter 13 Trustee and/or the U.S. Trustee's office in the area where the case was filed. Fraud and perjury are not common but it happens occasionally. You should not report it unless you have some evidence you can present and not just speculation or a guess.

Lying to any court is a very bad thing. You are not in trouble, as there is no requirement that you report it. If want to report it, look on the Internet for the Chapter 13 Trustee in your area. That is the person who would be the most interested.

Fraud in the Bankruptcy court is a federal criminal offense, punishable by fine and/or imprisonment. If you have knowledge of such a fraud you should inform the Bankruptcy trustee appointed in the case. You can find out who the trustee is by calling the bankruptcy court clerk where the bankruptcy was filed.

It's a felony; the bankruptcy petition states as follows: Penalty for making a false statement or concealing property: Fine of up to $500,000 or imprisonment for up to 5 years or both. 18 U.S.C. 152 and 3571.

Intentionally lying to the bankruptcy court is a federal crime. Punishment for this type of a crime can include fine and federal prison. If you didn't lie to the court you don't have anything to worry about.

Yes, it can be a very serious crime to lie to a bankruptcy court. A person can be prosecuted in federal court for concealing assets, false oaths and claims, and bribery (18 United States Code Sec. 152), bankruptcy fraud (18 USC 157), destruction, alternation, or falsification of documents (18 USC 1519), concealment of assets (18 USC 3284), and the list goes on. The FBI investigates bankruptcy crimes. Penalties include 5 yrs in jail, and $250,000 fines. No you are not in trouble for having this knowledge and not reporting it. If the lies were materially false, I urge you to report it the U.S. Trustee's Office, which can make a referral to the U.S. Attorney's office. I hope bankruptcy crime is not a common crime, but even if it is, I urge you to do the right thing and report it. That will help keep it less common.

Perjury in bankruptcy is serious and hopefully rare. The potential penalty is 5 years in jail and fines of $250,000, plus revocation of any discharge, and dismissal of the case. The person to report it to would be the Chapter 13 Trustee for that case, and, depending on how many things were false, one might also call the US Attorney in Atlanta. While we don't have all the facts, in some cases your concealment of a crime could be a crime.

The bankruptcy papers and the testimony before the trustee is under oath. False statements under oath in a bankruptcy case is perjury. Perjury has a potential fine of $500,000 and/or 5 years in federal prison. There is no legal obligation to provide information unless you want to do so for your own reasons or sense of morality. Only if you are asked and do not then tell the truth would you be subject to criminal prosecution.

Perjury is a federal felony. Very bad crime. Not reporting the perjury is a felony itself. Here is the federal law: Whoever, having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony cognizable by a court of the United States, conceals and does not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

Lying to the Federal Court constitutes Perjury, which is a serious offense. Under most circumstances, as an outsider, you have no affirmative obligation to report it under the law. Morally and ethically, you have to live with your decisions, however.