Two Kansas City men were found guilty of criminal contempt following a six-day bench trial that examined their compliance with court-ordered financial disclosure requirements tied to a civil enforcement action.
Smith, a partner at McDowell Rice Smith & Buchanan, P.C., had represented Anderson and his businesses for more than 25 years prior to the Federal Trade Commission case. As part of that civil action, Anderson was directed to submit detailed financial disclosures for both himself and associated corporate entities. According to court findings, the criminal contempt proceedings centered on financial relationships, accounts, and transactions involving Anderson and Smith that extended beyond a traditional attorney-client arrangement.
The court found that Smith undertook efforts to obscure his business relationship with Anderson and to exclude that connection from disclosures submitted in the Federal Trade Commission case. Anderson, despite not being an attorney, was also found to have an obligation to provide full and accurate information and failed to meet that requirement…