11th Cir. Pattern Jury Instr. (Criminal) O2

to the Estate of a Bankruptcy Debtor

18 U.S.C. § 152(1)

In a case governed by the Federal bankruptcy laws, it’s a Federal crime to

fraudulently conceal any property belonging to the estate of a bankruptcy debtor

from creditors or from an officer of the court who has a duty to take control of the

property.

The Defendant can be found guilty of this crime only if all the following

facts are proved beyond a reasonable doubt:

(1) on or about the date charged, a bankruptcy case docketed as case

number __________ was pending in the United States Bankruptcy

Court for the _______ District of ________, and ______________

[doing business as _______________] was the Debtor;

(2) the property or an interest in the property described in the

indictment was a part of the Debtor’s bankruptcy estate; and

(3) the Defendant knowingly and fraudulently concealed the property

from creditors or from the [Bankruptcy Administrator] [United

States Trustee] who had responsibility for the control or custody

of the property.

A “Debtor” is a person or corporation that’s the subject of a federal

bankruptcy case.

When a debtor files a petition for bankruptcy, the bankruptcy estate is

created. Among other things, the estate includes all the property owned by the

debtor and the debtor’s claims on or rights to other property, no matter where the

property is or who possesses it when the bankruptcy case begins.

If another person or entity also owns an interest in a property, the debtor’s

interest in it is still part of the bankruptcy estate.

The bankruptcy estate also includes any proceeds, products, rents, or profits

of or from property of the estate except earnings from services performed by an

individual debtor after the bankruptcy case begins.

Note: In Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases filed after October 17, 2005, and all

cases filed under Chapter 12 and Chapter 13, use the following alternative

definition of “bankruptcy estate.”

[The bankruptcy estate also includes any proceeds, products, rents, or profits

of or from property of the estate. It also includes earnings from services performed

by an individual debtor after the commencement of the bankruptcy case.]

The [Bankruptcy Administrator] [United States Trustee] for the Bankruptcy

Court for the __________ District of __________ is an officer of the court and was

at all relevant times responsible for the control or custody of all property

constituting the bankruptcy estate in case number __________.

The heart of this charge is the knowing and fraudulent concealment of

property belonging to the debtor’s estate. “Conceal” has its ordinary sense of “to

hide” or “to prevent recognition” of something.

To “fraudulently conceal” property means to knowingly withhold

information about property or to knowingly prevent its discovery while intending

to deceive or cheat a creditor or custodian, usually for personal financial gain or to

cause financial loss to someone else.

A “creditor” is a person or company that has a claim or right to payment

from the debtor that arose before or when a bankruptcy court issued an order for

relief concerning the debtor.

The term “custodian” means a person authorized by a bankruptcy court to

administer the property of the debtor. It includes a bankruptcy administrator or

trustee.

Fraudulently concealing property may include:

• transferring property to a third party or entity;

• destroying the property;

• withholding information about the property’s existence or

location; or

• knowingly doing anything else to hinder, delay, or defraud any

creditor [or the] [Bankruptcy Administrator] [United States

Trustee].