The debtor filed his bankruptcy petition on August 19, 2002. On September 26, 2002, the debtor filed a motion to dismiss his bankruptcy petition. There are no objections filed to the debtor's motion. As of October 28, 2002, the discharge of debts had not been entered, neither objected to.

In spite of there being no filed objections to the debtor dismissing his case, Judge Manuel Barbosa did not entered a decision. The hearing on the motion, held October 9, 2002, was continued for October 30, 2002. In the meantime, for reasons unknown, on October 4, 2002, the attorney for the debtor filed an amendment to Schedule B.

We've seen this happen before in cases of extortion under color of official right. Debtors discuss with their attorneys assets pending but not received when the bankruptcy petition is filed. The attorney advises their client not to enter the pending asset on the Schedule since they have not received it. When the asset is received, and the Schedule is amended to exempt the asset or a portion of it, the bankruptcy trustee challenges the exemption. In some cases, the bankruptcy trustee also alleges that the debtor intended to keep the assets secret in order to defraud their creditors. These allegations are often resolved by the debtor entering a settlement or compromise with the bankruptcy trustee.

Although the Debtor motioned to dismiss his case, and the continued hearing had not been held, bankruptcy trustee, Daniel Donahue, filed an application for his employment on October 16, 2002. He followed that by filing an objection to claim for exemption. The next day, bankruptcy trustee Daniel Donahue filed an "initial report of trustee in asset case."

There is something very deceitful in the trustee's allegation. We checked the amendment for Schedule B. The amendment states that a portion of deferred compensation has been transferred to the State of Illinois Retirement System. The amendment clearly states how much of the deferred payment was paid to the Debtor. In the trustee's motion, he claims the entire amount of the deferred compensation. The State's retirement plan is exempt in bankruptcy. The trustee wants the portion in the retirement plan, in addition to the portion the Debtor has been paid.

Some laws can be complicated in interpreting. They refer to a section of another section of another section of another section. 5 USC Sec. 8130 is not one of those laws. 5 USC Sec 8130 is stated as follows:

How much plainer can this be? The Regional U.S. Trustee and Assistant U.S. Trustee are most likely to say that it's up to the judge to decide. Once Judge Manuel Barbosa signs the order in favor of the trustee, he gives color of official right to extortion.

Assistant U.S. Trustee, Sheree Dandurand has responded to complaints of extortion committed under color and claim of official right by advising victims to pursue the appellate process. By allowing panel trustees to request unlawful orders, and abuse the law, they wait until Judge Barbosa gives his signature to give it color of official right. Then, it's up to the victim to have Judge Barbosa's order overturned by another court.

Because appeals are costly and time sensitive, and many debtors are not represented by legal counsel, the orders of bankruptcy judges are not subject to review. The judicial appellate system is constructed to deny access to those needing it the most.

Assistant U.S. Trustee Sheree Dandurand has reason to know that pursuing the appellate process is impossible for victims who cannot obtain legal counsel due to the racketeering operation that forbids attorneys to honestly represent clients. Based on information and belief, she has been informed that attorneys in the State of Wisconsin discuss with their clients why they cannot represent them in U.S. Bankruptcy courts in Region 11, which is under jurisdiction of U.S. Trustee Ira Bodenstein. Based on information and belief, Sheree Dandurand was not concerned about corruption in the U.S. Bankruptcy court. Rather, she was concerned with obtaining the names of attorneys discussing the corruption with their clients.

It has been reported to Wells of Justice that upon a member of clergy informing a judge of the 17th Circuit Court of Winnebago County of the racketeering operation through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, that Pecatonica, Illinois attorney, Janet D. Fuenty, stuck her foot in her mouth and applied the racketeering operation to the entire Winnebago County bar.

Our bet in this case is on the trustee arguing that the compensation is deferred. He might even argue that the deferred compensation was paid in lieu of workers' compensation. Every law firm on the web that we examined for exemptions states that workers' compensation is exempt in bankruptcy. When the web site is that of a law firm, can we trust them or not? In addition, attorneys associated with Wells of Justice confirm that compensation for work injuries is exempt in bankruptcy. It falls under 11 USC Sec 522(c) … "a disability, illness or unemployment benefit." According to our legal resources, in the State of Illinois, 85% of wages earned but unpaid are exempt.

Sec. 9. "All wages, salary amounts or other compensation paid by the State, any unit of local government or school district to any of its employees are exempt and not subject to collection under a wage assignment.(Source: P.A. 79-502.)"

As of October 28, 2002, the attorney for the Debtor had not filed a response to the trustee's motion. This case is following the pattern of other cases of extortion committed under color and claim of official right. If Assistant U.S. Trustee Sheree Dandurand did her job, she would withdraw trustee Daniel Donahue's unlawful request, application for employment, and asset report. That will leave Judge Barbosa with one decision to make -- dismiss the case. If the debtor says that he will be able to pay his debts, Judge Barbosa should not deny him. The trustee, going after exempt property, is doing so to earn an incentive commission and additional compensation for "administrative costs." The trustee will include in administrative costs time he spent preparing and filing his application for employment while being fully aware that the debtor wants to dismiss his case.

Most recently, Wells of Justice has discovered that many people are not aware of the incentive commission compensation allowed to Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustees. Well intentioned folks have stated that bankruptcy trustees are paid a flat salary. This IS NOT TRUE of Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustees. Chapter 7 trustees are paid a flat fee for presiding at the Meeting of Creditors. They earn nothing more unless it is an asset case and they recover assets. Before creditors receive distribution, the trustees convert 25% of the first $5,000.00, and 10% up to $50,000.00, to their compensation. For example, in a case where $30,000.00 of assets are recovered, the trustee earns a commission of $3,750.00. If the trustee spends 10 hours on the case, and charges $280.00 an hour, he earns an additional $2,800.00, for a total of $6,550.00.