Bankruptcy, Benchslaps

Beleaguered Banker Benchslapped Back To The Stone Age

Whatever you do, don't lie to a judge. They really don't like it when litigants do that.

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[T]he Debtor made one decision after another to withhold disclosure of his financial dealings … and then made it worse by providing excuses for the failure to disclose that helped destroy his credibility and, quite frankly, insulted the intelligence of the Court. …

[I]n his failures to be up front with respect to his financial dealings, the Debtor displayed a cavalier disregard for his disclosure obligations in a bankruptcy case. He made one material nondisclosure after another, and so many false oaths that they are difficult to count. Some were by sloppiness alone, and cannot be held to be sufficiently intentional to be actionable. But the other failures of disclosure cannot likewise be held to be innocent mistakes. Accordingly, the Court must and does deny Gordon a discharge, and judgment will be entered accordingly.

— Judge Robert Gerber, in a blistering opinion in the Chapter 7 case of once-heralded Wall Street trader Daniel Gordon. In 2005, Gordon was jailed for embezzling $43 million from Merrill Lynch, and in 2009, he filed for bankruptcy after the IRS attempted to collect taxes on the stolen money. Gordon’s lawyer will “vigorously appeal” Judge Gerber’s denial of discharge.

(If you’re interested, flip the page to read Judge Gerber’s opinion in full.)

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