The bankruptcy trustee liquidating Denny Hecker's estate asked the court Tuesday to find the former auto dealer's girlfriend, Christi Rowan, in contempt of court for cashing undisclosed dividend checks belonging to the bankruptcy estate.
Trustee says Hecker's girlfriend took checks
Hecker's girlfriend is to face sentencing on Friday.
February 23, 2011 at 1:22PM
The trustee's motion, which also demands that she turn over documents, comes just three days before Rowan is scheduled to be sentenced for her role in a fraud that helped Hecker conceal assets from bankruptcy court.
Hecker was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on Feb. 11 for bankruptcy fraud and for defrauding Chrysler Financial out of more than $80 million in loans. Under the latest caper, it appears that neither Hecker nor Rowan bothered to disclose to the court that they still had access to up to $90,000 in insurance company stock.
Matthew Burton, attorney for the bankruptcy trustee Randy Seaver, told the Star Tribune Tuesday that they recently discovered that Hecker had been receiving dividend checks from Prudential Insurance stock that he owned. Rowan deposited at least one of his $1,149 dividend checks into Hecker's U.S. Bank account as recently as Dec. 30.
Rowan also cashed out $500 for herself in December and withdrew more than $9,000 from the bank account between Nov. 29 and Dec. 13, according to the court documents.
Rowan never reported the money to the bankruptcy court or to the criminal court, Burton said. Rowan's lawyer could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Hecker, who was jailed Oct. 18, signed documents Oct. 23 giving Rowan power of attorney to handle the affairs of his estate.
"We are moving for contempt against Rowan because she stole money from the estate," Burton said. "She was running checks as recently as December through some old bank accounts Hecker had."
The motion also asks the court to order Rowan, her friend Kyle Kosmider, and Hecker's adult daughters Holly and Kelly Hecker to turn over documents relating to the stock and bank accounts.
Burton said that it is possible that Hecker's daughters may not have known about the Prudential dividend checks, because they came from some stock that was in their names but controlled by Hecker.
It is unclear how the latest developments might affect Rowan's sentencing in criminal court on Friday. She has requested probation for lying under oath and committing fraud in 2009 while applying for a loan for a Range Rover that Hecker wanted just prior to his filing for bankruptcy. Prosecutors have asked that Rowan serve six months in jail.
Dee DePass • 612-673-7725
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