Minnesota Supreme Court approves disbarment of attorney after fraud conviction in bankruptcy scheme – Bemidji Pioneer

ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Supreme Court has approved an agreement disbarring former Willmar, Minnesota, attorney Gregory Ron Anderson from the practice of law for his felony conviction of fraud.

The Supreme Court issued a news release Tuesday, Jan. 3, stating that it had issued an order Dec. 30 in which it approved the disbarment as sought in a petition from the director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility for Anderson’s alleged professional misconduct.

Anderson, 63, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in St. Paul on Dec. 7 to serve 18 months in prison for a conviction of fraud in the bankruptcy proceedings of former Kerkhoven Mayor James Rothers. Anderson must also serve a year of supervised release following his prison term and pay fines of $20,000.

The federal court found that Anderson had created fake liabilities to create the appearance that Rothers was insolvent when, in fact, Rothers could easily have paid all of his creditors, according to information from the U.S. District Attorney’s office.

Rothers pleaded guilty to fraud Dec. 13 and is serving two years of probation.

Anderson had agreed as part of a plea agreement in his case to voluntarily accept disbarment.

In the recent ruling, the Supreme Court noted that Anderson had entered into a stipulation for discipline in which he waived his rights to challenge the action and “unconditionally admits the allegations of the amended petition” against him.

Anderson had practiced law in Willmar since 1987.