Jack Weichman Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud, Tax Evasion

Jack Weichman, 64, of Dyer, Indiana, stood before Chief Judge Philip Simon today and admitted to orchestrating a multi-year financial crime spree that bled clients, banks, and the IRS dry. The accountant and business owner pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud, one count of concealment of assets, one count of wire fraud, and one count of filing a false federal income tax return — capping a federal investigation into his now-collapsed empire of shell operations and deceit.

Weichman, operator of Weichman & Associates and the medical billing firm MMDS, admitted to stealing $10,000 from a physician client as part of a broader scheme that siphoned at least $660,000 from the victim’s bank account. He also confessed to hiding nearly $2 million in tax debt from the IRS while seeking to renew a loan at another bank — a brazen act of deception that reeks of entitlement and contempt for the law.

In January 2011, as bankruptcy loomed, Weichman concealed hundreds of thousands of dollars from creditors. But the most audacious move came on April 25, 2012, when he and employee William Bercaw, 69, of Munster, Indiana, orchestrated the theft of $95,000 from a client’s retirement fund. Bercaw, who entered a guilty plea to one count of wire fraud, helped execute a phone scam in which another employee impersonated the client to gain unauthorized access to the funds.

Weichman’s son, Ari Weichman, 36, of Schererville, Indiana, also pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud for falsely claiming to be the owner and president of MMDS in an attempt to secure a loan from US Bancorp. James Schaefer, 66, of Lowell, Indiana, another employee involved in the loan application fraud, entered a separate guilty plea on the same charge. All were complicit in propping up Jack Weichman’s crumbling financial facade.

The case was built through a coordinated probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-Office of Inspector General, and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division. Prosecutors Diane L. Berkowitz and Maria N. Lerner of the U.S. Attorney’s Office navigated a paper trail of false statements, hidden assets, and fraudulent transactions that painted a damning portrait of systemic corruption.

Sentencing for all defendants is scheduled for January 27, 2017. Jack Weichman faces years behind bars, the wreckage of his reputation already cemented by his own admissions. This wasn’t mismanagement — it was calculated theft, executed with the cold precision of a man who believed he was untouchable. He was wrong.