Question about credit card fraud before bankruptcy
I live in Ontario and I am filing bankruptcy next week. We have been trying to save some money to buy a used car and it doesn`t seem like we will have enough. I have been taking some cash advances out on my credit card to try and cover it. However, I am nervous as my trustee said that they will look at your charges and may question `unusal usage`, and could charge you with fraud. My husband has gone from full time to part time hours and we have also had to use the credit card more then usual this month.
It is not like I am withdrawing thousands of dollars, but I have been taking out a few hundred here and there. Any insights would be helpful!
Posted from: Ontario
The trustee you’ve spoken to was correct to warn you. If you continue to use credit knowing that you are about to file for bankruptcy then you are committing an act of fraud. At the very least you will be held responsible to repay the cash advances you;vr taken in the three months prior to filing for bankruptcy. The worst case scenario is the Court might simply refuse your discharge from bankruptcy based on your conduct prior to filing.
I know you are saying it is only a few hundred dollars “here and there”, but how would you react if the roles were reversed? What if you were lending a friend $20 every week from your pay for 2 or 3 months and then they filed bankruptcy so they couldn’t pay you? I suspect you’d be more than a little upset with them…