Christi Lee Dodd, a 51-year-old resident of Fishers, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of wire fraud and forgery of a federal judge's signature. Dodd's legal issues began over a decade ago with a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing in January 2015, and they have changed because of her actions in a later Chapter 13 case, as stated by the United States Attorney's Office.
Facing financial difficulties, Dodd filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy again in December 2019 but later sought to have the case dismissed. In June 2022, the bankruptcy court closed her 2019 petition without discharging her debts. Despite the conclusion of her bankruptcy case, Dodd is accused of creating a false document the following year, which was intended to absolve her of those same debts. According to the United States Attorney's Office, Dodd is said to have sent a fabricated discharge order to a financial institution. Her motive was to secure a line of credit to pay off debts related to her trucking business. The indictment claims the false document had a forged signature of the judge from the 2015 case and resembled the format of a legitimate discharge order.
The charges have led to responses from officials, including Zachary A. Myers, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, who expressed, "Protecting the integrity and efficiency of the bankruptcy system is an important priority of the Department of Justice." Nancy J. Gargula, the U.S. Trustee for Indiana, reinforced these values, stating, "The filing of a fraudulent court order containing the forged signature of a bankruptcy judge strikes at the very core of the integrity of the bankruptcy system and will not be tolerated." These stakeholders in the justice system stand by to ensure that the abuse of legal mechanisms does not go unchecked. Investigations into this case are currently underway, conducted by the FBI and the U.S. Trustee's Office, in conjunction with the Southern District of Indiana Bankruptcy Fraud Working Group. If Dodd is convicted of the charges against her, she faces a substantial prison sentence of up to twenty-five years, as reported by the United States Attorney's Office.
