Plastic Surgeon Edgardo Colón Ledée and His Sister, Attorney Astrid Colón Ledée, Found Guilty of Bankruptcy Fraud Charges
| U.S. Attorney’s Office February 09, 2012 |
SAN JUAN, PR—Yesterday evening, after a one-month trial before District Court Chief Judge Aida Delgado-Colón, plastic surgeon Edgardo Colón Ledée and his sister, attorney Astrid Colón Ledée, were found guilty of bankruptcy fraud charges, announced U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez. Edgardo Colón-Ledée was also found guilty of money laundering.
On April 1, 2009, a grand jury returned an eight-count indictment charging Edgardo Colón Ledée and his sister, Astrid Colón Ledée, with conspiracy to conceal assets and fraudulent transfers, fraudulent transfers, money laundering and concealment of assets from the bankruptcy trustee, creditors, and the United States Trustee, in the case of Edgardo Colón Ledée, debtor under Title 11, United States Code, namely, In re Edgardo Colón Ledée, No. 03-05547 (GAC), in the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Puerto Rico.
Defendant Edgardo Colón Ledée, with the help of Astrid Colón Ledée, his sister and bankruptcy attorney, filed a Voluntary Petition for a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy on May 28, 2003. According to the law, upon filing of a bankruptcy petition, the debtor is required to fully disclose his interest in all assets. Assets include real and personal property, tangible and intangible property, whether or not the asset is held in the debtor’s name or held in the name of another person or identity on behalf of the debtor. Edgardo Colón Ledée and Astrid Colón Ledée, conspired to make false statements in the bankruptcy documents to conceal his assets and financial condition, transferred assets to hide them from the trustee and the creditors, and further laundered profits obtained from said illegal diversion of assets.
Approximately nine months before filing for bankruptcy, Edgardo Colón Ledée and Astrid Colón Ledée, transferred his ocean park residence located at #1 Málaga Street, valued at approximately $1.1 million, to a corporation called Investments Unlimited, and failed to disclose the transfer to the bankruptcy court. They also failed to disclose that Edgardo Colón Ledée was the sole owner of the corporation. After filing for bankruptcy on March 28, 2003, and while the bankruptcy case was ongoing, Edgardo Colón Ledée and Astrid Colón Ledée engaged in three fraudulent transfers by using the undisclosed corporation to purchase three additional properties known as Laguna V PH-P for $190,000, El Convento for $420,000 and Antonsanti for $68,000. On January 6, 2007, after the bankruptcy trustee learned about Investments Unlimited and its true owner, Edgardo Colón Ledée fraudulently transferred the Ocean Park property to another individual for the purpose of keeping the property away from the trustee and his creditors.
“We are pleased with the convictions of these two defendants. The bankruptcy process is intended to give individuals an opportunity to regain their financial stability, not to hide assets from creditors. Abusing this process is a serious crime which carries stiff penalties,” said U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez. “Financial crimes such as this one affect not only creditors, but in the end, consumers who pay higher interest and fees to financial institutions. We will continue prosecuting individuals who engage in this type of financial fraud to the full extent of the law.”
The U.S. Trustee Program is the component of the U.S. Department of Justice that protects the integrity of the bankruptcy system by overseeing case administration and litigating to enforce the bankruptcy laws. “The United States Trustee Program, through Donald F. Walton, U.S. Trustee for Region 21, commends the FBI and the Office of the U.S. Attorney for their investigation and prosecution of this bankruptcy debtor and his attorney, and for their interest and assistance in the pursuit of fraud and abuse in bankruptcy cases filed in Puerto Rico.”
The penalty for the charges against Astrid Colón-Ledée is a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum fine of $250,000. For Edgardo Colón-Ledée, the maximum penalty is 20 years and a maximum fine of $500,000 or twice the amount of the money laundered.
The case was investigated by FBI agents with the assistance of Monsita Lecaroz-Arribas, Assistant U.S. Trustee, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Charles Walsh and Myriam Fernández.