Upholding the bankruptcy court and the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, the Tenth Circuit explained when a corporate officer can be saddled with a nondischargeable debt for causing a corporation to defraud a customer.
The debtor provided aircraft sales consultancy services through a corporation of which he was the owner and manager. On behalf of the corporation, he signed a contract for the corporation to represent a family in purchasing an aircraft.
The debtor identified an aircraft that the purchasers decided to buy. The debtor misrepresented the purchase price, telling his clients that the price was higher than he would be paying. The buyers ended up paying $250,000 more for the aircraft than the debtor paid the seller. The debtor kept none of the $250,000 for himself. Instead, it went to his lawyer and other third parties.
Later, the debtor sued the buyers about the management of the aircraft. In the course of the litigation, the buyers discovered that they had been defrauded in the purchase. So, they counterclaimed.
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The Securities and Exchange Commission is examining whether Better.com violated federal securities laws. Federal securities regulators have requested documents from Better.com and its blank check company Aurora Acquisition Corp. about their business activities, the companies said in filings with the SEC. They also are seeking information about the business activities of Better.com Chief Executive Vishal Garg and allegations made by former executive Sarah Pierce. Pierce alleged in a lawsuit last month that the company misled investors in financial filings and other representations it made as it attempted to go public. Ms. Pierce was Better.com’s former executive vice president for sales and operations. Better.com said at the time that Ms. Pierce’s claims were without merit and it would vigorously defend the lawsuit.
In its filing, the company said it was cooperating with the SEC. Better.com said in a statement that it voluntarily provided all materials requested and that it was “happy to set a high bar for transparency and responsiveness.” Better.com was a winner amid the boom in housing prices and mortgage refinancing that accompanied the pandemic and low interest rates. The company grew revenue nearly 10-fold to $876 million in 2020 from the year prior, posted a profit of $172 million and hired thousands as it rushed to keep up with the market, company filings said. It raised $500 million from SoftBank Group Corp. last year and weeks later said it planned to go public at a valuation of $7 billion.
Better.com since has been struggling by the rise in interest rates and resulting pullback in refinancing, as well as a controversial move in December in which Mr. Garg laid off 900 workers via a Zoom call. The company shed about 7,500 jobs, or 72% of its total workforce, between the end of last year and May.
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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has fined Bank of America $100 million for botching the disbursement of state unemployment benefits at the height of the pandemic, according to a CFPB press release. Bank of America automatically and unlawfully froze people’s accounts with a faulty fraud detection program. These consumers were then given little recourse despite the fact that there was, in fact, no fraud. This order requires Bank of America to undertake a process that is estimated to result in hundreds of millions of dollars in redress to consumers. A separate order from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is also fining the bank $125 million. Bank of America has contracts with various state agencies to deliver unemployment and other benefit payments to California consumers electronically through prepaid debit cards and accounts. Under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, consumers are protected when they use electronic methods to transfer money; this includes prepaid cards. Protections include that after a consumer contacts the financial institution that there has been an error, the financial institution must conduct a prompt, reasonable, and timely investigation.
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Statutes deny benefits when claimant has voluntarily quit without good cause, meaning that claimant at least “impliedly rejects the employment and the employer by some action such as failing to provide notification of the absence.” Notification of absence occurred when claimant informed a supervisor of illness with COVID-19, and the record shows no other requirement, only repeated attempts by claimant to return to work. “[T]he overwhelming weight of the evidence in the record is that [c]laimant is unemployed through no fault of his own.” Remanded to award benefits. George Chavis, Appellant, v. Wal-Mart Associates, Inc., and Division of Employment Security, Respondents. (Overview Summary) Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District – ED110016
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Former Representative Katie Hill (D-California), who owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to media parties she unsuccessfully sued over the publication of indecent photos while she was in office, has filed for bankruptcy. If successful, this could allow Hill to avoid paying attorney fees to the defendants, including a conservative website, a British tabloid, and two journalists. The financial judgments were rendered in 2021. after a judge dismissed her lawsuit accusing multiple parties of distributing and publishing intimate photos of Hill without her consent. The suit received national scrutiny because it pitted California’s “revenge porn” law against the 1st Amendment. Hill’s attorney said her client is the victim in the case and had no other choice than to file for bankruptcy because of the ruling’s financial toll. Hill said she does not regret filing the suit and called for a federal revenge porn law.
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The Missouri Human Rights Act authorizes the Missouri Commission on Human Rights to investigate complaints and prosecute violations of the Act. The Act requires the Commission to complete its investigation within 180 days of receiving a complaint, after which the Commission loses all authority except to issue a right-to-sue letter to the complainant, if the complainant requested a right -to-sue letter. The request for a right-to-sue letter before that time is not premature. The duty is ministerial and unresolved issues, like whether the Commission has authority over the facts as alleged, are irrelevant. Circuit court did not err in issuing a writ of mandamus requiring the Commission to issue a right-to-sue letter.
Business travel can be costly. Hotel bills, airfare or train tickets, cab fare, public transportation – it can all add up fast. The good news is business travelers may be able off-set some of those cost by claiming business travel deductions when they file their taxes.
Here are some details about these valuable deductions that all business travels should know. Business travel deductions are available when employees must travel away from their tax home or main place of work for business reasons. The travel period must be substantially longer than an ordinary day’s work and a need for sleep or rest to meet the demands the work while away.
Travel expenses must be ordinary and necessary. They can’t be lavish, extravagant or for personal purposes.
Employers can deduct travel expenses paid or incurred during a temporary work assignment if the assignment length does not exceed one year.
Travel expenses for conventions are deductible if attendance benefits the business and there are special rules for conventions held outside North America.
Deductible travel expenses while away from home include the costs of:
• Travel by airplane, train, bus or car between your home and your business destination. • Fares for taxis or other types of transportation between an airport or train station to a hotel, from a hotel to a work location. • Shipping of baggage and sample or display material between regular and temporary work locations. • Using a personally owned car for business which can include an increase in mileage rates. • Lodging and non-entertainment-related meals. • Dry cleaning and laundry. • Business calls and communication. • Tips paid for services related to any of these expenses. • Other similar ordinary and necessary expenses related to the business travel.
Travel deductions for the National Guard or military reserves National Guard or military reserve servicemembers can claim a deduction for unreimbursed travel expenses paid during the performance of their duty.
Recordkeeping Well-organized records make it easier to prepare a tax return. Keep records, such as receipts, canceled checks, and other documents that support a deduction.
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Effective July 1, the three major credit reporting bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) have removed medical debts that went into collection but were later paid from credit reports. Before this change, these types of debts would stay on credit reports for up to 7 years. Starting next year, even more medical debt will be taken off credit reports with all unpaid medical debts up to $500 being stripped from them. The combination of these two changes is expected to remove 70% of the approximately $88 billion in medical debt that currently appears on the credit reports of 43 million Americans. These changes are aimed at helping people with credit checks by landlords and employers as well as applying for loans. According to the CFPB, unpaid medical bills account for 58% of all debt in third-party collection, yet the agency’s research has found that it isn’t a very strong predictor of overall creditworthiness.
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Tax credits and deductions can help lower the amount of tax owed. All taxpayers should begin planning now to take advantage of the credits and deductions they are eligible for when they file their 2022 federal income tax return next year.
Here are a few facts that can help taxpayers with their year-round tax planning:
Courtesy of the Internal Revenue Service
Adjusted Gross Income, or AGI, is a taxpayer’s total gross income minus specific deductions that can reduce the taxpayer’s income before calculating tax owed. AGI is the starting point for calculating taxes and determining a taxpayer’s eligibility for certain tax credits and deductions that can help lower their tax bill.
The standard deduction is a set dollar amount that reduces taxable income. Most taxpayers have a choice of either taking a standard deduction or itemizing their deductions and using the option that lowers their tax the most.
Properly claiming tax credits can reduce taxes owed or boost refunds.
Some tax credits, like the earned income tax credit, are refundable, which means an eligible taxpayer can get money refunded to them even if they don’t owe any taxes.
To claim a deduction or credit, taxpayers should keep records that show their eligibility for it.
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A California man was sentenced 36 months in prison following a jury conviction in March 2022 on one count of mail fraud and one count of making a false representation in a bankruptcy proceeding.
According to court documents, in January 2018, Nana Baidoobonso – Iam, 69, engaged in a scheme in which he mailed an Involuntary Petition in Bankruptcy to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas. The defendant signed the Involuntary Petition in Bankruptcy under the penalties of perjury and falsely claimed that an individual owed him $630,000 and owed a second person $1.26 million.
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