Is Casey Anthony Hiding A Book Deal From Creditors?

Casey Anthony’s upcoming bankruptcy hearing on Monday will likely mean that she will have to tell debtors that the nebulous book deal she was suspected of making is now off the table or elsewise risk losing her bankruptcy claim.

Anthony seems to have been making her best attempt to simply disappear in the two years since she was acquitted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, but, on Monday, she is scheduled to appear in public for the first time since she received the highly controversial defense verdict.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Anthony is obligated to meet with creditors at the Sam M. Gibbons United States Courthouse in Tampa, Fla., on Monday afternoon to answer questions regarding her recent filing for bankruptcy.

The 26-year-old, who claims she has not been gainfully employed since her very public murder trial, stated in the Chapter 7 filing back in January that she owed roughly $792,000 and had only $1,084 in assets, according to NBC News. Anthony’s chief debt obligations reportedly come from attorney fees, taxes and other costs stemming from the trial.

"She would like to get a job, I can assure you, but she can't work at McDonald's. People would be looking at her instead of at the menu," one of Anthony’s attorneys, Charles Greene, told ABC News in January, days after she filed for bankruptcy.

Greene said that, while Anthony still had to be wary of taking any job that might place her in the spotlight, she was qualified to become a paralegal if she wanted to.

"She's better than many paralegals I know," he said. "She could be a paralegal or something like that right away. She is very organized, a very intelligent, very computer-savvy person, so I think her skills and her desire may lie somewhere in that field."

But, while Anthony may have future plans to pursue such a career, she is not currently bringing in any income, according to recent court documents. Anthony’s financial woes were one of many reasons that media outlets suspected she would sign a book deal about the infamous murder trial, following in the footsteps of the now-exonerated American student Amanda Knox, who signed a $4 million book deal with HarperCollins after being acquitted of murdering her roommate while studying abroad in Italy.

In August of 2011, CBS reported that Anthony was planning to write a memoir about both her early childhood and her experiences becoming a teen mother. Some of the plaintiffs now pursuing civil suits against Anthony, like Zenaida Gonzalez, even referenced the likelihood of such a deal in their suits, suggesting that Anthony was trying to evade her debts now so she would not have to pay a share of future profits with her creditors.

"We believe that, at some point in the future, Casey Anthony will profit from a book, movie or other related deal,” Gonzalez’s attorney, Matt Morgan, said. “It makes logical sense for her to have all of her liabilities discharged before she profits.”

Anthony’s attorney has not yet responded to those claims. The Chicago Tribune reported that Anthony’s hearing will take place in the afternoon.