As 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 time, Mr. Hecker had business difficulties which later culminated in the entry of a nearly $477 million dollar judgment against him in Chrysler Financial Services Americas LLC v. Dennis E. Hecker, Hennepin County Civil Court, Case No. 27-CV-09-2152. Given the fact of this $477 million dollar debt, Mr. Hecker filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition on June 4, 2009.
Mrs. Hecker meantime, applied to the Family Court for a monthly award of interim spousal maintenance and child support. Similar to what I discussed at "Recovering Marital Assets Through A Domestic Court", page 4 ¶14 of her September 28, 2009 supporting affidavit asked the Court to "impute income" to Mr. Hecker:
Click On The Affidavit To Read It
Based on her affidavit, Mrs. Hecker alleges that Mr. Hecker: spent from $35,000 to $37,000 each month to reside at his Cross Lake home; planned to pay a $250,000 dollar retainer to a lawyer; purchased expensive watches (i.e. portable valuable commodities); paid for a lavish Hawaii vacation; planned a $9,500 facelift; routinely carried large sums of cash and once traveled with $100,000 stashed in a computer case; etc.
Mr. Hecker’s Chapter 7 trustee Mr. Seaver, has separately commenced adversary proceedings to try to recover assets Mr. Hecker supposedly diverted. One of these adversary proceedings includes the complaint available here, which is about Mr. Hecker’s apparent $1 million dollar "Personal Services Agreement".
Mr. Seaver also accused Mr. Hecker of failing to schedule bankruptcy estate assets. In an October 6, 2009 bankruptcy court filing, Mr. Seaver claimed among other things, that Mr. Hecker had not initially disclosed his transfer of a: $154,000 ring, Harley Davidson motorcycle and his interest in two boats. Mr. Seaver’s October 6th filing additionally alleged that an August 26, 2009 e-mail was part of Mr. Hecker’s supposed attempt to buy a multi-million dollar home:
Others besides Mr. Seaver might soon essentially claim that Mr. Hecker has hidden his assets. Two weeks after Mr. Hecker filed his June 4 bankruptcy petition, criminal investigators executed search warrants and raided Mr. Hecker’s homes and business headquarters. Mr. Hecker is also believed to be the subject of a grand jury proceeding and the IRS, FBI and State of Minnesota are reportedly examining whether Mr. Hecker could have concealed assets through money laundering, tax fraud and bankruptcy fraud.
Copyright 2009 Fred L. Abrams