Colorado paralegal charged in rare state prosecution of bankruptcy petition preparer

Conspiracy, financial elder abuse, grand theft, unauthorized practice of law, false advertising and misleading advertising as a paralegal are among a variety of state criminal charges brought against a Colorado paralegal for allegedly providing illegal bankruptcy petition preparer services in California.

According to Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, an investigation began in May 2007 after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kathleen Thompson and the U.S. Trustee for the Central District of California "observed potentially illicit acts" by the defendant, Emmanuel Assaf.  LAPD fraud unit detectives were assigned in September 2007 to investigate Assaf's alleged fraudulent advertising of paralegal services and provision of bankruptcy related serves to a then 85 year old victim, Maximiliano Jimenez. 

According to the charges, Assaf advertised a variety of legal services in a Spanish language publication, including paralegal services for bankruptcy filings.  Based on the advertisement, the victim's daughter called Assaf who assured her that he could handle the entire case and have someone accompany him to court.  Assaf accepted $1,200 in fees to handle the case and received Jimenez's social security number.  Jimenez filed for bankruptcy and Assaf declared that he had received only a $200 fee.  Assaf did not appear on behalf of the victim nor advise the victim that he needed to complete a pre-petition credit counseling course.  Following an investigation into the matter, the case was referred to the L.A. City Attorneys' Identity Theft and Fraud Unit for prosecution.  It is not clear whether the Office of the United States Trustee referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney for prosecution under 18 U.S.C. section 156, although the case appears to be the product of a coordinated effort between state and federal officials that will remain in state court.