HAMMOND—United States Attorney David Capp announced today that a federal grand jury returned a 34 count superseding indictment charging Jack Weichman with nine counts of bank fraud, fourteen counts of bankruptcy fraud, two counts of money laundering, four counts of wire fraud, and five counts of filing false federal income tax returns.

According to the superseding indictment, Weichman, a CPA, owned and operated an accounting firm and a medical billing firm in Munster, Indiana that managed medical practices and provided payroll, billing, accounting and tax services for its physician clients. Weichman is alleged to have illegally obtained over three million dollars from a local bank by obtaining money from his physician clients’ bank accounts, and obtaining lines of credit in the name of a client without the knowledge or permission of his clients. The proceeds from the lines of credit are alleged to have gone directly to Weichman who in turn used the money to, among other things, pay debts he owed to casinos. Weichman is also charged with defrauding a second bank into renewing a $355,133.68 term loan by omitting critical information he was required to provide the bank regarding his assets and liabilities. Specifically, it is alleged that Weichman failed to advise the bank that he owed the IRS approximately $2 million dollars in back taxes.

The superseding indictment also alleges that Weichman hid assets from his creditors and bankruptcy trustee during his Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As outlined in the superseding indictment, Weichman is alleged to have hidden hundreds of thousands of dollars that he paid to area casinos as well as tens of thousands of dollars in credit card payments for the purchase of items such as cigars, luxury handbags, sports memorabilia, and cruises. The bankruptcy charges identified in Counts 10 and 20 of the superseding indictment also trigger allegations of money laundering, alleging hundreds of thousands of dollars in criminally derived property.

A wire fraud scheme is also alleged in the superseding indictment. As part of the wire fraud scheme, the superseding indictment alleges that Weichman and employees at his accounting firm caused the transmission of withdrawal requests on a client’s IRA accounts to be faxed to brokerage offices in San Diego, CA and St. Louis Mo., without the client’s knowledge or permission. It is alleged in the superseding indictment that Weichman would direct his accounting firm employees to pretend to be the actual owner of the IRA accounts when contacting the brokerage firm. The money obtained from this scheme is alleged to have been used by Weichman for his own benefit, including gambling.

Finally, the superseding indictment alleges that Weichman filed five false income tax returns from approximately August 2009 through October 15, 2013.

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

The United States Attorney’s Office emphasized that an Indictment is merely an allegation and that all persons charged are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

If convicted in court, any specific sentence to be imposed will be determined by the judge after a consideration of federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.