Bankruptcy is strong medicine with serious side effects, so it’s not a remedy for legal problems to be taken lightly. I don’t know if local attorney Jose Antonio Villalon took the notion of filing bankruptcy lightly, but his multiple bankruptcy filings several years ago have resulted in a three-count indictment accusing him of bankruptcy fraud in connection with his alleged failure to disclosed an interest in an oil and gas lease that he either owned or had transferred shortly before commencing his bankruptcy cases. The U.S. Attorney’s press release on Villalon’s indictment is here.
Notably, Villalon did not even receive a discharge of his personal liability for his debts, which is the primary benefit of enduring a bankruptcy case in the first place. Both of Villalon’s bankruptcy cases were dismissed before he received a discharge, and the second one was reopened after the trustee discovered the allegedly undisclosed asset. Thus, Villalon’s creditors still can recover their claims against his non-exempt assets, assuming that they can find them, and Villalon has only a criminal indictment and no discharge for all his bankruptcy trouble.
Serious side effects indeed.