Luzerne County Government

April 2, 2010

Richards bankruptcy case closed by judge

The fired county human resources director and wife filed for bankruptcy in April 2009.

By Jerry Lynott jlynott@timesleader.com
Business Writer
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WILKES-BARRE – Missed payments and a missed court date resulted in the dismissal Thursday of the bankruptcy case of a fired county human resources director and his wife.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Opel II closed the case after an attorney for the creditors said Douglas and Sandra Richards failed to appear at a conference on March 22. The order wipes away the protection from creditors that Chapter 13 bankruptcy provided.

Their absence in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania was grounds for automatic dismissal, said Charles De Hart III, trustee in the case.

The couple filed for bankruptcy in April 2009 and submitted a plan to pay creditors $250 a month for 55 months. They were in arrears $1,250 and the conference was to discuss why their case should not be dismissed.

A message left for Douglas Richards at his home on Reliance Drive, Wilkes-Barre, was not returned.

He has another court date later this month in Scranton.

Richards is to be sentenced on April 29 by U.S. District Judge James Munley for pleading guilty to accepting a bribe to help a contractor gain a contract with Luzerne County.

He resigned from his $71,000-a-year job but was later fired from it in November when he refused to answer questions about a contract awarded to Continental Consultants Group Inc. of New York City.

Continental received a no-bid contract to oversee staff hired in 2007 for a flood cleanup program. The company also oversaw payments to former county employees who worked as consultants to the county.

When the county reviewed the contract, officials discovered information that appeared to link Richards to Continental and B&M Investigations, another New York City company that was hired to conduct background checks on employees and create a report for the county on developing pre-employment procedures.

Jerry Lynott, a Times Leader staff writer, can be contacted at 570 829-7237.

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