Opinion ID: 1752087
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Count 1. Fabricated Documents and False Testimony.

Text: Respondent filed a petition for his own personal bankruptcy on November 16, 1991. At the first meeting of creditors, held on January 15, 1992, respondent testified falsely under oath that he had transferred his interest in real property held by a joint venture known as Megra Properties to the Brian James Morehouse Irrevocable Trust on December 28, 1989, two days before respondent was to be married. In response to inquiry by the Director, respondent stated that the trust agreement was executed, witnessed, and notarized on December 28, 1989. When presented with evidence that the notary who took the acknowledgement had not been commissioned until April 19, 1990, respondent testified before a panel of the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board that although the trust agreement had not been notarized until May of 1990, it had been executed and witnessed on December 28, 1989. Stephen Kiley, one of the witnesses to the trust agreement, did not meet respondent until 1990 and recollected signing the trust agreement sometime in 1991. Respondent collected fire insurance proceeds of $75,000 for a claim on one of the buildings owned by Megra Properties, but never disbursed any of the proceeds to the Morehouse Trust. The referee found that respondent had fabricated and backdated evidence to conceal assets from his creditors and had made false statements regarding the irrevocable trust. This conduct violated Rules 3.3(a)(1) and (4); 3.4(b); 8.1(a)(1); and 8.4(a), (c), and (d), Minnesota Rules of Professional Conduct (MRPC).