September 10, 2002

BEVERLY HILLS DOCTOR SENTENCED TO THREE YEARS IN PRISON FOR CONVICTION ON BANKRUPTCY FRAUD, TAX EVASION

 Dr. Letantia Bussell, a licensed physician, who owned and operated a Beverly Hills dermatology practice for more than 10 years, has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for her conviction earlier this year on bankruptcy fraud and attempting to evade the payment of hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal income taxes.
 Bussell, 54, was sentenced late Monday by United States District Judge Alicemarie H. Stotler in Santa Ana. In addition to the 36-month prison term, Judge Stotler ordered Bussell to pay nearly $2.4 million in restitution, a $50,000 fine and approximately $62,000 to compensate the government for the costs of prosecuting the case. Bussell was also ordered to pay back taxes in the amount of $353,394 (a figure which is included in the $2.4 million restitution) and to notify the California State Medical Board of her convictions.
 A federal jury in Santa Ana convicted Bussell in February 2002 for her participation in a conspiracy that culminated in her fraudulently filing for bankruptcy. Over the course of several years, Bussell used an elaborate scheme to defraud her creditors, a plot that included setting up several corporations with bank accounts in the names of other people. With the assistance of her attorneys, Bussell used these nominee corporations to conceal her ownership of various assets from the bankruptcy court, the IRS and other creditors.
 As part of the conspiracy, Bussell signed under penalty of perjury a series of documents filed in United States Bankruptcy Court which included many false statements. Through these false statements, Bussell created the false impression that she had virtually no assets to satisfy the outstanding obligations due to her creditors. As a result of this fraud on the court, Bussell was able to maintain all of her money and property, while at the same time discharging more than $1 million in taxes due to the Internal Revenue Service and the state of California. The money and property hidden from the Bankruptcy Court included more than $1 million in income from her Beverly Hills dermatology practice.
 The three-year sentence imposed on Bussell resulted, in part, from the court's determination that she had caused approximately $3 million in intended losses to creditors and that she had obstructed justice by committing perjury when she testified during the trial. Judge Stotler reduced Bussell’s sentence after finding  that there were extraordinary family circumstances because Bussell's husband, Dr. John Bussell, who was also charged in the indictment as a co-conspirator and tried with his wife, committed suicide while the jury was deliberating.
 From 1992 through March 1995, when she filed the bankruptcy petition, Bussell engaged  the services of two attorneys, Jeffrey Sherman and Robert Beaudry, to implement the bankruptcy fraud scheme. Sherman, a 41-year-old Beverly Hills resident, has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and aiding and abetting tax evasion, and he is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Stotler on September 23. Beaudry, a 56-year-old Danville man, who was formerly a law professor at Southwestern School of Law, has pleaded guilty to tax charges and is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Stotler on December 16.
 This case was the result of an investigation by IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

 Release No. 02-135

Return to the 2002 Press Release Index.

Return to the Home Page