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'KING OF
FORECLOSURES'
ARRESTED,
CHARGED WITH
BANKRUPTCY
FRAUD
A Wisconsin man once known as the
"king of foreclosures" and his adult son were
arrested at their home and charged with bank
fraud and bankruptcy fraud.
Todd Brunner, 57, and his son, Shawn, 24,
were arrested in their Pewaukee, Wisconsin,
home after U.S. marshals, the FBI, Waukesha
County sheriff's deputies, and Pewaukee
police broke down their door. Authorities said
the two men did not resist arrest.
Authorities said the pair was indicted on
October 7 and was scheduled to appear in court
on Friday, October 17, but they failed to appear
and a warrant for their arrest was issued.
e elder Brunner is accused of hiding
about $7 million in assets from various
lenders and creditors following a bankruptcy
filing in 2011. e bankruptcy case was
thrown out of court the following year when
a federal judge said he believed Brunner had
not disclosed all of his assets. e FBI and
other agencies soon launched a two-year
investigation that led to the indictment of
Brunner and his son in October. According
to the indictment, Todd Brunner set up
shell corporations in Shawn's name and
transferred assets to these entities with the
purpose of protecting the assets from being
seized in bankruptcy. e indictment alleges
that Shawn was a willing participant in a
scheme to shield the assets.
e indictment stated that Todd Brunner
was charged with 11 counts of bank fraud and
four counts of bankruptcy fraud, while Shawn
was indicted on three charges of bank fraud
and one count of bankruptcy fraud. Both
men pleaded not guilty to the charges and
were released from custody on bail. ey are
expected to go to trial sometime next year.
Todd Brunner built a large financial
empire by buying hundreds of foreclosed
homes in southeastern Wisconsin over
a period of many years, earning him the
nickname "the king of foreclosures." He was
known for owning many boats and expensive
cars, as well as his for extreme physical
size—at one time, he weighed as much as
400 pounds.
