1991 Mrs. America, Lawyer Indicted in Bankruptcy Fraud

Former beauty queen and 1991 Mrs. America Jill Scott Chance was indicted Friday on charges of bankruptcy fraud in pretending to be unmarried.

Chance, 40, was also indicted for allegedly not listing more than $100,000 in jewelry when she filed a petition for bankruptcy in 1996. Prosecutors said she married Phoenix auto glass magnate C. Richard “Rick” Chance earlier that year. They have since divorced.

Also indicted Friday was her attorney, Gary A. Quackenbush, 41, of San Diego.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Bruce C. Smith said an investigation found that Quackenbush and Jill Chance, who lives in Paradise Valley, were aware that the bankruptcy petition failed to disclose her jewelry, her husband’s substantial income, and the fact that she was a secretary in Chance’s firm.

For Jill Chance, Friday’s indictment is the latest in a string of legal problems that began soon after she was named Mrs. America.

The pageant sued her and won a $100,000 judgment against her for not revealing that she was separated from her first husband when she won the crown.

Later, Chance, while living in Coronado, was investigated in connection with welfare fraud and sued by a promoter claiming she had reneged on plans to make a pornographic film.

In 1997 she hired bounty hunters to bring ex-husband G.E. Scott from Kansas to California in an effort to get him to pay overdue child support. But a San Diego judge ruled against her.