Randallstown Man Sentenced to More Than Seven Years in Prison for Bankruptcy Fraud and Filing False Tax Returns

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. sentenced Ricardo O. Curry, II, age 43, of Randallstown, Maryland, today to 87 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for assisting in the filing of false tax returns, bankruptcy fraud, falsifying bankruptcy records, and false testimony under oath at a bankruptcy proceeding. Judge Quarles also ordered Curry to pay restitution of $1,114,988.51 to the creditors in his bankruptcy case and $118,182 to the IRS. Curry was convicted by a federal jury on March 20, 2013, and has been detained since that time.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Kelly of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and U.S. Trustee Judy Robbins and the Baltimore Office of the United States Trustee Program, the Department of Justice component that supervises the administration of bankruptcy cases.
According to evidence presented at his three day trial, Curry worked for Peerless Real Estate Services Inc., a North Carolina corporation that oversaw the sale of property in North Carolina, including a development that contained more than 2,000 lots. Curry recruited at least 12 investors to purchase at least 23 lots in the development and he received referral fees based on these sales. In 2005, 2006, and 2007, respectively, Curry earned referral fees of $41,455, $43,200, and $330,546. Although Curry reported the income he received as a sales representative for a pharmaceutical company on his 2005, 2006, and 2007 tax returns, he failed to report these referral fees, totaling $415,201.
On March 12, 2009, Curry filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland. On April 21, 2009, Curry filed a Statement of Financial Affairs with the bankruptcy court, which reported the income he earned as a pharmaceutical sales representative for tax years 2005, 2006, and 2007 but failed to report the $415,201 he earned in referral fees from Peerless. Curry also failed to disclose his ownership interest in a home worth approximately $325,000. On July 28, 2009, Curry filed an Amended Statement of Financial Affairs, which again failed to disclose the $415,201 in referral fees and his ownership interest in the home. On October 20, 2009, Curry testified under oath at meeting of the creditors, falsely stating that all his assets were listed in his bankruptcy filing, when, in fact, Curry knew that he had not reported the referral fees, nor his home ownership. Ultimately, Curry never provided documents to the trustee overseeing his bankruptcy case regarding either the referral fee income or the home, and as a result, on April 12, 2010, Curry’s attempt to discharge his debts through bankruptcy was denied.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the IRS-CI, FBI, and U.S. Trustee’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Gregory R. Bockin and David I. Sharfstein, who prosecuted the case.