June 2, 2011
A federal judge has authorized U.S. marshals to apprehend a Scituate man who has missed all seven meetings with creditors in his personal bankruptcy case.
Arthur Roberts Jr., 63, missed the latest meeting May 24 and said he was resting in a Berkshires cabin with no access to email or cell phone service, according to court filings.
“It is now clear that Roberts has no intention of complying with orders of this court or the requirements of the bankruptcy code,” wrote attorney David Madoff of Foxboro, the trustee overseeing Roberts’ case.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge William Hillman granted the motion Wednesday, ordering that Roberts be apprehended and held until he appears in court.
The so-called Rule 2005 order allows a bankruptcy judge to authorize the apprehension of a debtor who willfully avoids appearing in court to testify.
Roberts filed for Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy in November.
He is due in Norfolk Superior Court on Friday for a hearing in a criminal case.
He pleaded innocent April 21 to charges of larceny by false pretenses over $250, uttering a public record and three counts of common-law uttering. Uttering is making false statements in writing.
Prosecutors said he forged the signature of Attorney General Martha Coakley on her office’s letterhead as part of his application for a $22,000 car loan. Because Roberts had a previous vehicle repossessed, he forged letters from Coakley and a credit agency employee saying that he had been a victim of identity theft, prosecutors said.
In 1999, Roberts was convicted and sentenced to six years in Texas prison for a securities felony.
A federal judge has authorized U.S. marshals to apprehend a Scituate man who has missed all seven meetings with creditors in his personal bankruptcy case.
Arthur Roberts Jr., 63, missed the latest meeting May 24 and said he was resting in a Berkshires cabin with no access to email or cell phone service, according to court filings.
“It is now clear that Roberts has no intention of complying with orders of this court or the requirements of the bankruptcy code,” wrote attorney David Madoff of Foxboro, the trustee overseeing Roberts’ case.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge William Hillman granted the motion Wednesday, ordering that Roberts be apprehended and held until he appears in court.
The so-called Rule 2005 order allows a bankruptcy judge to authorize the apprehension of a debtor who willfully avoids appearing in court to testify.
Roberts filed for Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy in November.
He is due in Norfolk Superior Court on Friday for a hearing in a criminal case.
He pleaded innocent April 21 to charges of larceny by false pretenses over $250, uttering a public record and three counts of common-law uttering. Uttering is making false statements in writing.
Prosecutors said he forged the signature of Attorney General Martha Coakley on her office’s letterhead as part of his application for a $22,000 car loan. Because Roberts had a previous vehicle repossessed, he forged letters from Coakley and a credit agency employee saying that he had been a victim of identity theft, prosecutors said.
In 1999, Roberts was convicted and sentenced to six years in Texas prison for a securities felony.
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