Bankruptcy-bound San Bernardino Investigated for Criminal Misconduct

Earlier this week San Bernardino filed for bankruptcy, making it the largest American city in history to do so. The city asserted that the their reasons for filing for chapter 9 bankruptcy were related to dwindling revenue, accounting errors, employee pensions and deficit spending.

Now a criminal investigation has been launched to determine if misconduct contributed to the city’s financial problems. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department released a statement confirming the investigation but did not release any details, according to the Los Angeles Times.

San Bernardino’s interim city manager Andrea Travis-Miller said the city’s financial problems have been known for some time, but the full scope was not apparent until she and the new finance manager began taking a closer look at the books. Miller however doesn’t think there was any criminal wrong-doing just negligence.

Budgetary mismanagement is a common reason a business or an individuals must turn to bankruptcy attorneys for help. Under their guidance, the debtor can stop collection activities and negotiate with creditors for a repayment plan.

Bankruptcy lawyers will carefully examine the indebted individual’s or business’ financial records and decide which debt protection plan will resolve their debt issues. In many instances, the debtor may be able to have their liabilities reduced and even dismissed.

Many people run into financial troubles because of unforeseen circumstances, they have no intention of becoming bankrupt. But when they do a bankruptcy attorney can guide them through the entire process and help them return to a state of financial security.