Freezing bank accounts maintained by nominees and Scottish prosecutors investigate a suspected tax fraud. Fraudulently conveyed assets may be recovered even if they are concealed in bank accounts maintained by straw persons / intermediaries (i.e. nominees). A post-judgment creditor for example, can conceivably freeze or restrain nominee bank accounts in New York, as partly suggested… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: debt collection
Divorce Settlements As Asset Protection Tools?
Posted in Asset Forfeiture, Divorce & Child Support"Using Divorce To Dissipate Assets & Delay Creditors" described allegations from 2008, that ex-Tyco chief executive Dennis Kozlowski might have fraudulently conveyed assets via an excessive divorce settlement. Stated differently, the ex-Tyco chief was thought to have possibly used his divorce settlement as an asset protection tool. An August 10th civil complaint filed in federal… Continue Reading
Asset Search News Roundup: October 13, 2010
Posted in Asset Search News, Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Money Laundering, Tax FraudThis "Asset Search News Roundup" is about a few companies currently offering asset protection over the Internet. The first of these companies is Panama Legal, S.A. Its Web site says that "Bullet Proof Asset Protection" is attainable by forming a "Panama Bearer Share Corporation". "Bearer Shares & An Asset Search", meanwhile mentions that bearer shares may… Continue Reading
Peter Madoff & His Competing Claimants
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Bankruptcy, Securities Fraud"Forced Collections Against A Fraudster Like Madoff" & "Competing Over Mr. Allen Stanford’s Assets" described the problem of competing claimants trying to recover from a limited pool of funds. This same problem has been encountered by the plaintiffs in The Lautenberg Foundation v. Madoff, 09-Civ-00816, whose lawsuit I mentioned at "Suing Peter Madoff For Bernard… Continue Reading
A Primer For Gathering Financial Intelligence
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Assets & Financial Intelligence, Divorce & Child Support, Financial Institutions, Securities Fraud, Swiss BanksA successful asset search often requires gathering financial intelligence. One financial investigator sought financial intelligence by doing “trash pulls”. This investigator did trash pulls at an attorney’s home to elicit intelligence about the attorney’s client. During one of these trash pulls, an envelope bearing the name of a climate-controlled art storage facility was discovered. This… Continue Reading
Assetprotection.com Says Become A Smaller Target
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Financial Institutions, Money Laundering"How To Minimize Your Assets" published at a webpage belonging to Assetprotection.com, indicates that a judgment debtor can mitigate the risk of forced collection proceedings "[b]y becoming a smaller target". The Assetprotection.com website is also replete with asset protection diagrams. In cases that illicit proceeds are being hidden, some of these same diagrams could actually… Continue Reading
Mr. Cook Continues His Incarceration For Civil Contempt
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Securities Fraud, White-Collar Crime GenerallyAfter I wrote my November 28th, 2009 "Asset Search News Roundup" about Minneapolis money manager Trevor Cook, he was incarcerated on January 25, 2010 for civil contempt of court. As the Court stated in its January 25, 2010 Opinion, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission previously filed for injunctive relief… Continue Reading
Asset Search News Roundup: January 29, 2010
Posted in Asset Search News, Securities FraudThe January 29th "Asset Search News Roundup" talks about HealthSouth’s ex-chief Richard Scrushy and includes the most recent remarks of Assistant Secretary For Terrorist Financing David Cohen: "HealthSouth Founder Scrushy Is Acquitted of Fraud" explained that Mr. Scrushy was acquitted in June of securities fraud and other criminal law violations. Mr. Scrushy was however, sentenced… Continue Reading
Alleging Money Laundering In Private Sector Lawsuits
Posted in Asset Forfeiture, Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Divorce & Child Support, Money LaunderingBy claiming that proceeds of a judicial bribery scheme had been laundered from Italy into nineteen U.S. bank accounts, prosecutors sought asset forfeiture as described at "Using Multiple Jurisdictions To Launder Money". That forfeiture case was mostly based on U.S. anti-money laundering laws which included 18 U.S.C. §1956 (Money Laundering) and 18 U.S.C. §1957 (Money… Continue Reading
Mr. Mastro Supposedly Transfers His Rolls Royce & Other Assets
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Bankruptcy“Bankruptcy Fraud, Money Laundering & Hidden Assets” outlines how a Chapter 7 debtor hid his Porsche and Rolls Royce and other assets. That debtor eventually pleaded guilty to violating 18 U.S.C. §152 (Concealment of assets; false oaths and claims; bribery) and one count of 18 U.S.C §157 (Bankruptcy fraud). “An Asset Search For Automobiles” similarly… Continue Reading
Has Auto Magnate Dennis Hecker Hidden His Assets?
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Bankruptcy, Divorce & Child SupportAs a high-profile Twin Cities auto magnate, Mr. Hecker had been one of Minnesota’s largest car dealers. During April 2008, he sought a divorce from his wife of about fifteen years in Hennepin County Family Court, Case No. 27-FA-08-2731. Mr. and Mrs. Hecker however, stipulated to dismiss said divorce case during October 2008. At that… Continue Reading
Eliciting Evidence From Foreign Bank Witnesses
Posted in Asset Forfeiture, Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Assets At Foreign Banks, Financial Institutions, Tax FraudSome post-judgment creditors, divorcing spouses and other private litigants use a domestic summons / subpoena to elicit an adversary’s bank customer information from a foreign bank witness. Under limited circumstances, these private litigants might serve a domestic summons / subpoena, as set forth by the Court in First American Corp. v. Price Waterhouse, 154 F.3d… Continue Reading
Asset Search News Roundup: July 6, 2009
Posted in Asset Forfeiture, Asset Search News, Public CorruptionThis "Asset Search News Roundup" concentrates on the International Centre For Asset Recovery ("ICAR"), which is part of the Basel Institute on Governance. ICAR’s "Knowledge Centre" is particularly geared toward helping "asset recovery practitioners, investigators, prosecutors and policy makers worldwide". The Knowledge Centre generally has information for domestic governmental authorities, about forced collection proceedings when… Continue Reading
Will Ruth Madoff Keep Her Remaining $2.5 Million In Assets?
Posted in Asset Forfeiture, Asset Search/Fraud InvestigationAs a Reuters article suggests, the Court made a June 26 Order which directed Mr. Madoff to forfeit $170 billion in assets. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is also no longer seeking forfeiture of all of the assets of Bernard Madoff’s wife, Ruth. It is Instead permitting Mrs. Madoff to retain $2.5 million of her assets… Continue Reading
Competing Over Mr. Allen Stanford’s Assets
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Bankruptcy, Securities Fraud, White-Collar Crime GenerallySuspected Ponzi schemer Allen Stanford may have facilitated one of the largest financial frauds known to date. Any receivers, investors or other stakeholders with claims against Mr. Stanford under bankruptcy or other laws, are of course trying to interdict Stanford’s assets. As I mentioned in my "March 25, 2009 Asset Search News Roundup", these competing… Continue Reading
Some Asset Search & Recovery Basics
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Divorce & Child Support, Money Laundering, Some Asset Search & Recovery BasicsHave the methods mentioned at “Asset Search Indicia For Divorce, Debt Collection & Bankruptcy“, been used to hide assets during a financial fraud? Are there any red flags that assets are being fraudulently concealed? Finding answers to these questions can be critically important if you are trying to interdict: marital assets; probate assets; bankruptcy estate… Continue Reading
An Asset Search In Amsterdam
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud InvestigationMy post "An Asset Search In Geneva" describes different ways one might search for or recover assets even when they are hidden in an offshore jurisdiction such as Switzerland. Just as in the case of assets hidden in a Swiss bank, a letter rogatory / legal assistance request could be used to elicit evidence about… Continue Reading
Clawback Caused By A Ponzi Scheme
Posted in Asset Clawback & Securites Fraud, Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Bankruptcy, Securities FraudImage: Steve Hillebrand / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Investors who profited because of Allen B. Stanford’s suspected securities fraud / Ponzi scheme may face clawback lawsuits under the Bankruptcy Code, according to Bloomberg.Com’s "Stanford Receiver May Need a Decade to Pay Victims". Investors who collected profits from Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme could too face… Continue Reading
Forced Collections Against A Fraudster Like Madoff
Posted in Asset Forfeiture, Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Money Laundering, Swiss BanksForced collection proceedings against a fraudster like Mr. Bernard Madoff can involve an extraordinary number of prospective plaintiffs with competing interests in the fraudster’s assets. In Mr. Madoff’s case, some of these plaintiffs competing over assets might even include foreign governmental authorities seeking asset forfeiture because of Mr. Madoff’s money laundering in the United Kingdom… Continue Reading
An Asset Search In Geneva
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Divorce & Child Support, Money Laundering, Recovering Assets Hidden Offshore, Securities Fraud, Swiss BanksThe victims of a securities fraud, divorcing spouses, post-judgment creditors, etc. can have several remedies available to them if they need to interdict assets hidden offshore. One might even pursue an asset search or recovery in the various offshore tax havens. This is particularly true when a bank is used as a laundering “link” to… Continue Reading
Using Divorce To Dissipate Assets & Delay Creditors
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Divorce & Child SupportOne way a debtor may frustrate an asset search or delay forced collection proceedings is to dissipate assets through an excessive divorce settlement. According to "Tyco gets OK to freeze Kozlowski’s assets" for example, ex-Tyco chief executive Dennis Kozlowski may be using his divorce settlement to delay his creditors. At In Re: Tyco International, Ltd.,… Continue Reading
An Asset Search For Automobiles
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, BankruptcyHarold is an asset recovery agent, ("repo man"), who works in New England. He sometimes lives out of his tow truck for a couple of days while searching for a particular debtor’s automobile. When I recently called Harold on his cell phone, he said: "Until I put the GPS in my tow truck, I had… Continue Reading
A Debt Collection In N.Y.
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Money LaunderingDuring forced collection / attachment proceedings, the Debtor alleged that he could not pay the Creditor because of an arm’s-length business loan from Offshore Lender in the millions. The Debtor further claimed that he had collateralized his business loan with mortgages, promissory notes and U.C.C. liens, on nearly all of his property. Through subpoenas… Continue Reading
High-Risk Locations & An Asset Search
Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Financial Institutions, Money Laundering, Tax FraudAn investigation of a high-risk geographical location can sometimes uncover assets which have been hidden through: nominees; shell companies; cash couriers; wire transfers; credit cards; informal banking systems, etc. For example, one way the IRS focuses on high-risk locations like tax havens, is to compare the banking information it receives from the Financial Crimes Enforcement… Continue Reading