July 4th, 2010 by Reed Allmand 
Antoine Walker, former NBA all-star Celtics player, has faced yet another twist after filing bankruptcy with $12.7 million in liabilities and $4.3 million in assets. A judge ordered the NBA player to face trial on a felony bad check charges after he failed to repay nearly $1 million in gambling debts and penalties owed to three Las Vegas casinos.
The charges stem from $1 million in casino markers, or gambling loans, that Walker used between July 2008 and January 2009 at Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood and the Red Rock Resort. Nevada law treats unpaid markers as bad checks, and they can be turned over to the district attorney for prosecution.
The judge noted that Walker hadn’t made any progress repaying some $770,000 he owes on a promise last November to pay $905,050 in restitution, court fees and penalties. At the time, Walker forfeited toward that amount the $135,000 cash bail he posted following his arrest at a celebrity golf tournament last July in Lake Tahoe.
The prosecutor in the bad check case against Walker said that the former NBA star’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing was complicating the criminal case and that they were still trying to come to a resolution that would not result in Walker going to jail. If Walker is convicted of felony bad check writing charges and sent to prison, that would not prevent him from still continuing with his Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. The law gives even those who are locked behind bars the right to file bankruptcy. However, the basketball star might not be able to discharge the debts if it is found that he incurred the gambling debts with no intention of ever repaying them. Incurring debts without having any intention of repaying them is considered fraud and could result in those particular debts being nondischargeable and/or the bankruptcy case being dismissed.
About Reed Allmand
Allmand's vision is rooted in his own financially precarious childhood in Abilene "My father always had difficulty holding a job and supporting our family, so after my parents divorced when I was 12, my sister and I got jobs to help make ends meet," he recalls. "I remember what it felt like as a child to worry that our car would be repossessed or home foreclosed on."
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