01:00 AM EDT on Friday, August 12, 2011 By Tracy BretonJournal Staff Writer
Lawyer Keven a. McKenna is involved in a dispute with a former employee, which has played a role in his bankruptcy filings.
The Providence Journal / Kris Craig
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PROVIDENCE ? the United States Trustee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Providence, William K. Harrington, claims in newly filed court papers that lawyer Keven a. McKenna, a candidate for attorney general last year, made ?materially false? claims in his Chapter 11 filings that understated his assets. Harrington is asking a judge to disallow the discharge of any of McKenna?s debts because, he says, McKenna failed to disclose $93,000 in legal fees he recently tried to collect from a Bristol estate, and that he also misrepresented in court filings his monthly income. the trustee also alleges that McKenna ?failed to disclose? that he paid his wife, Sheila Bentley McKenna, $58,250 in February 2009 and an additional $55,000 on Oct. 23, 2009 ? the year before he filed for bankruptcy.
McKenna is a former state prosecutor who has made a career out of challenging those in authority.
Bankruptcy petition forms require people to attest that they are telling the truth in providing financial information. They warn that ?a person who knowingly and fraudulently conceals assets or makes a false oath or statement under penalty of perjury, either orally or in writing, in connection with a bankruptcy case, is subject to a fine, imprisonment or both. all information supplied by a debtor in connection with a bankruptcy case is subject to examination by the Attorney General acting through the Office of the United States Trustee, the office of the United States Attorney and other components and employees of the Department of Justice.?
McKenna filed for personal bankruptcy and for bankruptcy for his law firm in January 2010 in Chapter 11 reorganization proceedings. the court appointed separate trustees to oversee the cases. Trustees take legal title to the property of a debtor and hold it ?in trust? for equitable distribution among the creditors.
In his Aug. 4 filing, Harrington, a presidential appointee based in Boston, lists several things that he alleges McKenna knowingly lied about under oath in his bankruptcy filing. Among other things, Harrington says that McKenna made ?a materially false statement? about his income.
McKenna stated in a court filing on April 27, 2010, that his average monthly income was just $125. ?only after inquiry by the United States Trustee did the defendant file on June 24, 2010, an amended form ? disclosing total average current monthly income for the six months prior to the filing of $18,153,? Harrington wrote.
Harrington is urging Judge Arthur N. Votolato to enter a judgment declaring that McKenna?s debts cannot be discharged through bankruptcy.
McKenna, 66, a former state representative and a former Providence Municipal Court judge, lives with his wife in Lincoln. he almost landed in prison a year and a half ago for refusing to obey orders issued by the chief judge of the Workers? Compensation Court that he pay a former paralegal more than $11,000 that the judge ruled he owed for injuries that the employee, Sumner D. Stone, said he suffered in a scuffle with McKenna in 2009.
Chief Judge George E. Healy Jr., of the Workers? Compensation Court, found McKenna in contempt for ?deliberately and intentionally? refusing to comply with his orders to pay Stone $400 a week for injuries Stone said he suffered in McKenna?s law firm at 23 Acorn St., Providence.
McKenna denies that an assault occurred, was never criminally charged and refused to pay Stone for the headaches and back pain Stone said he suffered. the incident occurred after Stone asked McKenna for $15 for gas to drive to Cranston to pick up subpoenas. McKenna says he fired Stone and that he ?gently? put his hand on Stone?s shoulder to guide him out the door.
McKenna apparently has plenty of assets to pay his creditors ? hundreds of thousands of dollars ? but says he put his former law business (he?s now practicing under a different business name) into bankruptcy so he could continue to challenge the constitutionality of the Workers? Compensation Court and to keep at bay Stone?s claim for benefits.
Recent filings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court indicate that Healy held a hearing in June that resulted in a settlement for Stone proposed by the Chapter 11 trustee assigned to McKenna?s law firm bankruptcy. Votolato had conditionally approved the settlement.
It is unclear from the court papers exactly how much Stone received in total from the settlement approved by Healy. Stone?s attorney, Andrew S. Caslowitz, is on vacation this week and could not be reached. the court papers indicate that Stone has been paid for at least six months for his alleged injuries; future payments were settled for ?the lump sum of $1.00.? the bankruptcy estate for McKenna?s law firm was also ordered ?to pay all reasonable bills for medical and related hospital services incurred prior to the approval of the settlement.?
Bankruptcy trustee says lawyer McKenna filed false claims
Source: http://www.finance4noobs.com/bankruptcy-trustee-says-lawyer-mckenna-filed-false-claims/
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