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Alan Kane, 59, of Jamison, and Derrell Johnson, 42, of Bensalem, were found guilty after a trial for multiple fraud schemes, said U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero in a press statement on Monday, Sept. 23.
A federal jury convicted Kane, an attorney, on two counts of bankruptcy fraud, one count of filing a false claim in a bankruptcy proceeding, and one count of making a false statement to the FBI, Romero explained.
Johnson was convicted on two counts of making a false statement to the FBI, she said.
In January 2024, they and codefendant Jonathan Barger, 55, of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., the owner of a local plating company, were charged in a 12-count indictment that laid out three different fraud schemes:
- A scheme to steal a house from a dead man’s family;
- A scheme to defraud the City of Philadelphia out of property taxes that were due on the stolen house and;
- A scheme to defraud Barger’s creditors through bankruptcy.
Barger was implicated in all three schemes and pleaded guilty in June 2024 to all counts with which he was charged, Romero added.
“The fraud schemes in which the defendants were involved differed in their details,” Romero stated. “But they shared a common goal: scheming, cheating, and lying for illicit financial gain — be it at the expense of a family, a city, or a creditor. We will continue to hold accountable those involved in misappropriating money like this or caught lying to the FBI.”
In a suit filed by the family to get their house back, Kane represented the party who had stolen the house, Joseph Ruggiero, who died in June 2020, Romero said. Kane made repeated false statements supporting Ruggiero’s claim to good title, despite knowing that the deeds transferring the property away from the family were fraudulent, she said. Kane also filed a false counterclaim against the family, claiming Barger’s company was entitled to more than $133,000 for work purportedly done to improve the house after it had been stolen, she said.
Kane also filed a bankruptcy for Ruggiero, in which they claimed that Ruggiero had valid title to the house, she said.
Johnson had helped with the preparation and filing of two fraudulent deeds used to steal the house and also helped with the filing of a false claim with the City of Philadelphia to avoid a large tax bill that was due on the house, Romero said. When Johnson was interviewed by the FBI, he lied, claiming that he didn’t recognize the fraudulent deeds and had nothing to do with the theft of the house, Romero explained.
Kane and Johnson are scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 28, 2025.
Kane faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $1 million fine, and a $400 special assessment.
Johnson faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $500,000 fine, and $200 special assessment.
“White collar crimes, such as bankruptcy fraud, erode confidence in our financial systems,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Philadelphia.
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