Coralville Woman Convicted in Bankruptcy Fraud Involving Holy Cross Property

A Coralville woman who initiated a bankruptcy case in order to defraud a nursing home out of more than $70,000 pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Cedar Rapids.  

64-year old Donita Rose Eckrich was convicted of one count of bankruptcy fraud.

In a plea agreement, Eckrich admitted that, in 2021 and 2022, a former nursing home resident was suffering from severe cognitive impairments and unable to manage the resident’s financial affairs. The resident owed a nursing home over $150,000 for care since 2019. The resident had assets, including valuable real estate in Holy Cross, and an annuity check from an insurer in the amount of nearly $75,000.

Eckrich devised a scheme to defraud the nursing home by fraudulently concealing and transferring the nursing home resident’s assets and otherwise violating the bankruptcy laws of the United States. For example, Eckrich caused an attorney to file a bankruptcy case in the former nursing home resident’s name, but hid the annuity check from the nursing home and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Iowa. Once the bankruptcy court discharged the former nursing home resident’s debt to the nursing home, Eckrich cashed the insurance company’s check and made five cash withdrawals of $15,000 each in order to conceal the location of the annuity money.

Eckrich and others at her request also created a “quit claim deed” in which the former nursing home resident purported to convey real estate in Holy Cross to Eckrich for “One Dollar(s) and other valuable consideration.” Eckrich obtained the Holy Cross property free and clear of any debt to the nursing home and without using any of the annuity money to pay the debt owed to the nursing home.

Sentencing will be set at a later date. Eckrich remains free on bond previously set. She faces a possible maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the investigation, along with Coralville Police and the FBI.