Jack Weichman Defendants Entered Pleas Of Guilty Today

HAMMOND – United States Attorney David A. Capp announced that all defendants in the United States v. Weichman case entered guilty pleas today before Chief Judge Philip Simon. 

The following entered pleas of guilty:

• Jack Weichman, 64, of Dyer, Indiana –two counts of bank fraud, one count of concealment of assets, one count of wire fraud and one count of filing a false tax return.
• Ari Weichman, 36, of Schererville, Indiana-one count of bank fraud
• James Schaefer, 66, of Lowell, Indiana-one count of bank fraud
• William Bercaw, 69, of Munster, Indiana-one count of wire fraud

According to documents in this case, Jack Weichman, a local accountant and business owner, has entered guilty pleas to two counts of bank fraud, one count of concealing assets during a bankruptcy, one count of wire fraud, and one count of filing a false federal income tax return.   Weichman, the owner of an accounting practice that bears his name, Weichman & Associates, as well as a medical billing operation known as MMDS, stole $10,000 from one of his physician clients during a bank fraud scheme that saw at least $660,000 illegally removed from that client’s account.  Weichman also admitted hiding an almost $2 million dollar tax debt to the IRS from another bank at a time when he was seeking to renew a loan from that bank.  Weichman also admitted hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars from his bankruptcy creditors in January 2011, and removing $95,000 from a client’s retirement fund on April 25, 2012, by having one of his employees pretend to be the client during a phone call to the retirement fund. Finally, Weichman acknowledged that he failed to report to the IRS at least $100,000 in income.

Weichman’s employee, William Bercaw, entered his own guilty plea to one count of wire fraud relating to the $95,000 illegally removed from a client’s retirement fund account on April 25, 2012. 

Another Weichman employee, James Schaefer, along with Weichman’s son Ari Weichman, entered separate guilty pleas to a one count information charging them with providing false information to US Bancorp in an effort to secure a loan for Jack Weichman’s business, MMDS, by representing to US Bancorp that Ari Weichman was the owner and president of MMDS.

Sentencing for all defendants is set for January 27, 2017.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-Office of Inspector General and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Diane L. Berkowitz and Maria N. Lerner.

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