The trustee in the Michael S. Tomaszewski bankruptcy case has asked the court to order Tomaszewski's wife to turn over an anticipated income tax refund once it is received.
Attorneys for Trustee Mark J. Schlant filed the motion last week after Tomaszewski was sentenced to two to six years in prison for defrauding funeral pre-arrangement customers out of, collectively, more than $500,000.
According to the motion, Michael and Valerie Tomaszewski have jointly claimed refunds of $27,121 for their 2019 and 2020 income tax filings.
The motion asks the court to order Valerie to turn over $13,560 to the court to help settle some of Michael Tomaszewski's debts.
"The Trustee understands that the Debtor recently might have become somewhat limited in his ability to deal with matters such as this and that the necessary arrangements might put Mrs. Tomaszewski in control of the funds," the motion reads. "Therefore the Trustee wishes to secure Mrs. Tomaszewski's cooperation in effecting the turnover."
The bankruptcy judge, Robert H. Jackson, has not yet responded to the motion.
In bankruptcy filings, Tomaszewski lists $1,094,346 in assets against $3,242,390 in liabilities.
At his sentencing on Dec. 22, Judge Charles Zambito ordered Tomaszewski ordered the former funeral home operator to pay $569,434.92 in restitution to his victims, starting at $2,000 a month once he's released from prison.
Tomaszewski admitted to misappropriating funds from clients who paid for pre-arrangement services. There were at least 91 such victims. Many of those victims have filed stipulations with the bankruptcy court protecting those debts from discharge through the bankruptcy process.
