Fundraiser Tonken Files for Chapter 7 Protection

Fundraiser Aaron Tonken, awaiting sentencing for fraud, is seeking bankruptcy protection from a long list of creditors that is expected to include screen stars, ex-U.S. presidents and a roster of Hollywood players.

An attorney for Tonken said the request for protection under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code was being filed Monday.

The petition is expected to list debts of $10 million to $50 million. Declared assets are expected to range from $1 million to $10 million, virtually all of it in the form of potential income from various lawsuits Tonken has filed against celebrities and former associates in recent years.

Tonken’s bankruptcy attorney, Philip Dapeer, declined to identify specific creditors but said a “good number of them” were celebrities who were involved with the promoter’s various charity events.

One person familiar with the expected bankruptcy filing identified former presidents Bill Clinton and Gerald Ford, pop star Paula Abdul, producer David E. Kelley and actors Roseanne Barr and Camryn Manheim among more than 100 creditors.

The initial filing isn’t expected to say how much each creditor is owed.

Tonken was sued last year by California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, who accused him of defrauding Hollywood charities of more than $1.5 million.

Tonken later pleaded guilty to two federal wire fraud charges.

He faces up to 10 years in federal prison under the fraud counts, but people familiar with the case have said that he may receive a much lighter sentence in return for his cooperation with federal authorities.

Documents reviewed by The Times last year showed that Tonken appeared to have kept little of the millions he drained from a series of charity and political galas but showered lavish gifts and cash on many of the stars and politicians who attended his events.

“He has been looked at inside and out by the government,” Dapeer said. “The determination is that he didn’t benefit from any of this.”

Dapeer said he didn’t know how Tonken expected to make a living in the future or whether he might, for instance, profit from a book or film deal stemming from his rags-to-riches rise inside Hollywood’s star community.

Joseph Zwicker, an assistant United States attorney who has been overseeing Tonken’s prosecution, said the bankruptcy filing would not relieve Tonken of an obligation to pay restitution under his plea agreement with the government.

Terms of the sealed agreement haven’t been disclosed. But Zwicker said Tonken “cannot avoid” paying back stolen funds under the agreement.

Lockyer’s spokesman said his office would subject the bankruptcy petition to close examination.

“The attorney general intends to move forward with his action to hold Mr. Tonken accountable and to make whole the charities he ripped off,” the spokesman said.

An attorney for at least one creditor, Paula Abdul, said Monday that he was considering steps to collect a $150,000 debt, despite the filing.

Mark Kaplan said he might ask the Bankruptcy Court to declare the debt -- the result of a default judgment stemming from a dispute over payments promised to Abdul for appearances -- as “non-dischargeable” because it grew from an alleged fraud.