Bankruptcy Attorney Peter Ressler Admits to Stealing Millions

HARTFORD, CT – Peter Ressler, 70, of Woodbridge, Connecticut, has confessed to a brazen scheme to steal over $3.4 million from the very people who entrusted him with their financial futures. The former bankruptcy attorney waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty today before Senior U.S. District Judge Alfred V. Covello, admitting to embezzlement and a litany of related fraud offenses, according to Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

Ressler, who operated a bankruptcy practice in New Haven, preyed on vulnerable individuals and businesses seeking a fresh start. The scheme involved taking retainers – at least 30 clients were bilked this way – promising to hold funds in trust for bankruptcy proceedings under Chapters 7, 11, and 13. Instead of safeguarding those funds, Ressler diverted them for his own personal expenses. He also demanded deposits from clients undergoing Chapter 11 or 13 reorganization, falsely claiming the money would be held in trust, and then siphoned off hundreds of thousands of dollars from at least 10 businesses.

The deception didn’t stop there. Ressler routinely falsified documents submitted to the bankruptcy court, specifically debtor-in-possession monthly operating reports. He concealed the fact that he had already improperly spent client funds, misleading both the court and creditors about the debtor’s true financial standing. In court hearings, Ressler brazenly lied about the existence of assets, knowing full well they were gone, vanished into his own pockets. This wasn’t simply negligence; it was calculated fraud designed to cover his tracks.

Beyond formal bankruptcy filings, Ressler engaged in so-called “work outs” – attempts to negotiate debt settlements with creditors outside of court. He’d request funds from clients, promising to hold them in trust for settlement purposes, then pocket the money. The list of victims is extensive: $64,000 for a purported property purchase, $180,000 and $100,000 held in escrow but never used, $45,000 for a home buyback, $199,000 for IRS settlements, and numerous other instances totaling hundreds of thousands more, all funneled away from those who desperately needed it.

The scheme began to unravel in the spring of 2016 when the U.S. bankruptcy court flagged suspicious activity in several cases involving Ressler’s clients. In one instance, a debtor entrusted Ressler’s firm with $450,000 from a legal settlement; in another, $321,409 was handed over. In both cases, the vast majority of the funds disappeared, used by Ressler for purposes unrelated to his clients’ needs. The total misappropriated now stands at a staggering $3.4 million, a testament to Ressler’s callous disregard for the financial well-being of those he was sworn to protect.

Ressler’s days of legal practice are over. He now faces the consequences of his actions, a reckoning long overdue for a man who betrayed the trust of his clients and abused the legal system for personal gain. Sentencing details have not yet been announced, but federal prosecutors are expected to seek a substantial prison term. This case serves as a stark warning: no one, not even a lawyer, is above the law.