Owner of Online Payday Loan Company Pleads Guilty to Bankruptcy Fraud

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Mission Hills, Kansas, man pleaded guilty in federal court today to a bankruptcy fraud scheme related to his online payday loan company.

Del H. Kimball, 53, waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to one count of bankruptcy fraud.

By pleading guilty today, Kimball admitted that he engaged in a scheme to defraud the Bankruptcy Court by concealing assets, bank accounts, and claims against third parties, and by making false statements and material omissions regarding his assets and financial transfers to and from third parties.

Three of Kimball’s creditors filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition against Kimball, his partner, and their company, LTS, an online payday loan company, on Aug. 5, 2015. The claims of the three creditors totaled more than $15 million.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee filed a complaint to deny Kimball’s discharge on March 10, 2017, and the Bankruptcy Court conducted a trial on Jan. 11, 2018. After the trial, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Cynthia Norton ruled that Kimball had transferred property with the intent to hinder, delay, or defraud creditors, made numerous false oaths in connection with this bankruptcy case, and concealed property from the bankruptcy estate. The court found that the evidence was “overwhelming” that Kimball made false statements under oath. The court denied Kimball’s discharge.

For example, Kimball failed to disclose at least $69,000 in transfers to relatives. He undervalued collectibles by $24,000. He omitted transfers to Claw Consulting, LLC, another company he owned (with no employees). Kimball established a bank account for Claw Consulting, and caused the bank statements to be mailed to an attorney at the attorney’s business address in order to stash income and proceeds of sales he wanted to conceal from creditors.

Under federal statutes, Kimball is subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen D. Mahoney. It was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee.