Fraudulent Schemes Involving Real Estate

Alan T. Simpson is an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri in Kansas City, where he focuses on health care investigations and parallel proceedings. He also represents federal agencies in bankruptcy court.

Before joining the Department of Justice, Mr. Simpson was in private practice in Kansas City, Mo., with the Graves Garrett law firm and clerked for Hon. Julie A. Robinson in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas and Hon. Arthur I. Harris in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

Mr. Simpson received his undergraduate degree magna cum laude from the University of Missouri and his J.D. with honors from Washington University School of Law.

Mark Pfeiffer is a shareholder with Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC in Philadelphia and is an insolvency lawyer and litigator with trial experience. He focuses his practice on creditors’ rights with an emphasis on commercial foreclosure, insolvency, bankruptcy and the defense of lender liability claims. A significant portion of Mr. Pfeiffer’s practice is concentrated on receiver-related issues. His commercial bankruptcy practice includes the representation of secured creditors, debtors and chapter 7 trustees in all aspects of bankruptcy, including chapter 11 reorganizations. His litigation practice frequently includes jury and bench trials.

Mr. Pfeiffer is ranked as a Recognized Practitioner in Chambers USA’s 2018 and 2017 guides. Previously, he was an accountant in the audit and litigation support departments of the largest accounting firm based in Pennsylvania. His accounting practice included forensic and fraud accounting, audits and business valuations.

Mr. Pfeiffer received his B.S. in 1989 from King’s College and his J.D. in 1995 from Villanova University School of Law.

Cynthia A. Nelson is a senior managing director with FTI Consulting, Inc.’s Corporate Finance practice in Los Angeles, where she assists stakeholders in evaluating, developing and implementing turnaround plans and restructurings in both judicial and non-judicial circumstances. She has assisted debtors, investors, lenders and creditors’ committees in analyzing and developing plans of reorganization, analyzing financing options and market rates of interest, evaluating asset-disposition and development plans to maximize value, conducting due diligence in connection with acquisition and financing, negotiating resolution of troubled credits, and providing litigation support and testimony in adversarial proceedings.

In addition, Ms. Nelson has more than 30 years of experience in the real estate industry and specializes in advising stakeholders with interests in real estate. She has experience with development and operating companies, including those with interests in master planned communities, resorts, retail, office, hospitality, multi-family and mixed-use properties.

Ms. Nelson has been involved in some of the largest and most notable real estate restructurings of the last decade, including advising the unsecured creditors committee for General Growth Properties, serving as the chapter 11 trustee in connection with South Edge LLC, aka Inspirada, a “New Urbanism” community located in near Las Vegas, and serving as receiver for Talisker Club in Park City, Utah. She is advising the UCC with respect to real estate matters in the Toys “R” Us bankruptcy as well.

Prior to its acquisition by FTI Consulting, Ms. Nelson was a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Business Recovery Services group. Before that, she was a senior associate of investment services at Jones Lang Wootton USA, an associate at Laventhol & Horwath in its Real Estate Advisory practice, and a real estate development assistant at Valencia Company/Newhall Land & Farming. Ms. Nelson is a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars; she has been a panelist at programs sponsored by the ABI, the California Bankruptcy Forum, the Financial Lawyers Conference, the American College of Bankruptcy and other organizations. In addition, she co-chaired the 2016 National TMA Conference and has published articles in the ABI Journal, CPA Expert, Daily Bankruptcy Review, Turnaround Management, Socioeconomic Planning Sciences, Location and Stigma, Urban Land and FTI Journal.

Ms. Nelson received her B.S. in urban planning from California State Polytechnic University and her M.B.A. and M.P.L. from the University of Southern California.

Steven M. Hartmann is a litigation and bankruptcy partner at the Chicago-based law firm of Freeborn & Peters LLP. He has a national practice representing banks and insurance company lenders in the enforcement of commercial loan agreements in various contexts such as workouts, foreclosures, receiverships and lender liability.

In bankruptcy, Mr. Hartmann has represented secured creditors in numerous chapter 11 cases in which he defeated challenges to the secured creditor’s claim or lien position and cramdown reorganization plans. He represents bankruptcy trustees in fraud and director and officer litigation, and he has successfully tried to verdict dozens of jury and nonjury commercial cases in federal and state courts throughout the country. He also serves as a member of Freeborn’s Executive Committee and as its general counsel.

Mr. Hartmann received his Bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern University in 1980 and his J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1983.

Michael E. Deeba is a partner in the Bankruptcy & Restructuring Services practice of Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP in Chicago and has over 30 years of experience in bankruptcy, financial distress, accounting and tax-related matters. He has provided consultation and expert-witness services in the areas of restructuring, bankruptcy, insolvency, valuation, fiduciary duties and governance issues, related-party transactions, fraudulent transfers, fraud investigations, forensic accounting and investigatory services, and commercial damages modeling. He has served in these capacities in bankruptcy, federal and state courts and as an arbitrator.

Mr. Deeba has been retained as financial advisor to debtors-in-possession, trustees, secured creditors, committees and other parties-in-interest. His experience has also included structuring and feasibility of plans of reorganization, disclosure-statement issues, valuation of businesses and divisions, solvency analyses and studies, assessments of reasonably equivalent value, adequate capital concerns, and preference and fraudulent-transfer claim disputes.

Mr. Deeba has provided interim-management turnaround services to companies in a wide range of industries, and he has been retained to provide valuation services and lost-profits calculations in disputes involving sales agreements, contracts, shareholder and partner agreements, leases, employment contracts, noncompete clauses, trade infringement and wrongful competition. He is a member of ABI, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors and the Turnaround Management Association.

Mr. Deeba received his B.S. in accounting from the University of Central Oklahoma.