Willmar Attorney Agrees to Disbarment After Guilty Plea in Bankruptcy Fraud Case

(KNSI) — An attorney in Willmar has agreed to be disbarred after pleading guilty to fraud.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in 2015, Gregory Anderson prepared and filed a bankruptcy petition for his client, James Rothers. Prosecutors say Anderson was well aware Rothers’ assets became the property of a “bankruptcy estate” to be used to pay off his creditors. Anderson was also required to disclose the value of Rothers’ assets.

Before filing the petition, attorneys say Anderson created fictitious liabilities so it would appear that Rothers was insolvent when he did have the money. He also arranged for a fake lawsuit to be filed against Rothers and Anderson allegedly told Rothers to purposefully default on that suit, creating a judgment of $608,000 against him to push the narrative that he was insolvent. Anderson also created fake loan documents to show that a company in Iowa loaned Rothers $240,000, and he was obligated to pay the loan back, further showing Rothers’ insolvency.

As Rothers’ bankruptcy attorney, Anderson had to certify that the petition filed with the bankruptcy court was true and accurate and that he did not know any of the information was wrong. Attorneys say Anderson knew what he was doing and knew Rothers purposefully hid $100,000 in gold coins, $686,000 in assets in bank accounts for two companies, and uncashed checks worth $455,484. Anderson is also accused of helping Rothers open one of the bank accounts and getting his legal fees paid from the other.

Anderson and Rothers both pleaded guilty to one count of fraudulent concealment of bankruptcy assets. A sentencing date for the two has not been set.

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