HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) - A federal grand jury has indicted the owner of a northwest Indiana accounting firm on 34 counts, a prosecutor said Thursday.
Jack Weichman of Munster faces nine counts of bank fraud, 14 counts of bankruptcy fraud, and additional multiple counts of money laundering, wire fraud and filing false federal income tax returns, U.S. Attorney David Capp announced.
Weichman, who owned companies that managed medical practices and provided payroll, billing, accounting and tax services, obtained more than $3 million from a bank with money from his clients’ bank accounts and obtained lines of credit in the name of a client without permission, Capp said. Weichman then allegedly used the money to pay casino debts, the prosecutor said.
Weichman is also charged with defrauding a second bank into renewing a $355,000 loan by omitting information that he owed the approximately $2 million dollars in back federal taxes.
Weichman’s attorney, Theodore Poulos, issued a statement saying Weichman “didn’t do anything wrong and we are going to prove it in court,” The (Munster) Times reported (https://bit.ly/1LpJTST ).
“We are deeply disappointed and, quite frankly, appalled that the government has decided to bring these additional trumped up charges against Mr. Weichman,” Poulos said.
In September, Weichman was charged with four federal counts of bank fraud stemming from allegations he stole $660,000 from a physician’s account to gamble at local casinos.
The superseding indictment Capp announced Thursday also alleges Weichman improperly used funds belonging to a client identified only as Dr. B, but Poulos said Weichman and the client have been “dear friends” for many years and that the physician authorized Weichman to use his funds.
The indictment also alleges that Weichman hid assets from creditors and a bankruptcy trustee during a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, also leading to the money-laundering counts, Capp said.
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Information from: The Times, https://www.thetimesonline.com
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