QUERY: In a concealment of assets case where the debtor receives neither a discharge nor a denial of the discharge when, if ever, does the statute of limitations begin to run?
These issues have not been directly addressed by the courts in any recent cases. A literal reading of 18 U.S.C. § 3284 would mean that the statute would never run in the examples cited above since a discharge was neither granted nor denied. The District Courts in United States v. Newman, 63 F. Supp. 269 (S.D.N.Y. 1945); United States v. Ganaposki, 72 F. Supp. 982 (M.D. Pa. 1947); and United States v. Nazzaro, 65 F. Supp. 456, (S.D.N.Y. 1946) all held that under the statute prior to 18 U.S. C. § 3284 (which provided that the statute of limitation did not begin to run until the debtor received a discharge), the failure of the defendant to secure a discharge meant there was no statute of limitation. They held that this was the clear language Congress used, and, whether it was wise or not, it was well within Congress' power.