According to Kohl v. Kohl, the Manhattan District Attorney had investigated N.Y.C. contractor Ted Kohl in 1995 for alleged money laundering, larceny and tax evasion.  Mr. Kohl had also been the subject of an asset forfeiture claim because of the District Attorney’s investigation.  As a countermeasure to the forfeiture claim, Mr. Kohl conveyed assets to his spouse, Mrs. Kohl.  Mr. Kohl then accepted a plea deal consisting of probation and a fine of about $2,750,000, during his 1997 money laundering, larceny and tax evasion trial.

Since the District Attorney had relinquished its asset forfeiture claim via the plea deal, Mr. Kohl’s earlier conveyance to Mrs. Kohl was ultimately a non-issue.  All of the foregoing however, suggested that Mr. Kohl’s conveyance may have been fraudulent. This was true because, as mentioned at “Badges Of Fraud In Debt Collection, Divorce & Bankruptcy“, fraudulent conveyances typically occur between related parties, in anticipation of a creditor’s claim, etc.  Mr. Kohl for example, had conveyed assets to a related party, his spouse Mrs. Kohl.  He had also conveyed assets because of the District Attorney’s pending forfeiture claim.

Since fraudulent conveyances are one way assets can be hidden, I asked former New York State Supreme Court Justice Herbert Posner (Retired) what he thought about Mr. Kohl’s conveyance.  During our discussion, former Judge Posner described a particular fraudulent conveyance he had seen.  As he explained: “The divorcing husband had fraudulently induced his wife to transfer her share of their marital residence.  He told his wife to sign some documents, which were supposedly insignificant and just related to operating his business.  The wife eventually learned that by signing those documents, she had actually transferred her interest in the marital residence to the husband’s family.”

Said wife ended up suing both her husband and his family for fraudulently conveying the marital residence.  In doing so, she likely relied on the Uniform Fraudulent Conveyance Act, codified in New York at N.Y. Debt. Cred. Law. §§ 270 – 281.  Bringing such a suit may be advisable when marital assets are fraudulently hidden / transferred away from a divorcing spouse.

Copyright 2008 Fred L. Abrams