I. DURING YOUR ASSET SEARCH LOOK FOR A MONEY TRAIL
There is always a money trail you can follow during your asset search. This is true no matter how your adversary hides assets. Even if your adversary maintains a secret offshore bank account there is a money trail. The money trail at the offshore bank would consist of: account opening documents; monthly account statements; and bank signature cards. Therefore, as part of your asset search you would seek these documents from the offshore bank. You might do this by employing a letter rogatory or a compelled consent form.
II. MONEY TRAILS WITH MANY ELEMENTS
Perhaps most important to remember is that a money trail can involve many elements. The suspected money trail in the criminal case of USA v. Tully Lovisa et. al., is thought to include: nominees (i.e. intermediaries/straw persons); shell companies; and post office boxes in New York and the Netherlands. Prosecutors may claim Mr. Tully Lovisa &/or his co-conspirators used these elements to launder the illicit profits of an advance fee scheme. The July 10, 2018 indictment in the case alleges Mr. Lovisa &/or his co-conspirators mailed phony prize notices to hundreds of thousands of victims.
The notices supposedly indicated the victims won cash prizes ranging from tens of thousands to millions of dollars. The notices allegedly said the victims could collect the prizes by mailing a $20 or $25 processing fee to the post office boxes in New York or the Netherlands. According to the indictment, Mr. Lovisa &/or his co-conspirators never paid valuable prizes to the victims and the supposed scheme generated more than $30 million in illicit profits from the processing fees paid by the victims.
III. THE 2010 LAWSUIT AGAINST MR. LOVISA
In 2010 the Federal Trade Commission sued Mr. Lovisa for an alleged advance fee scam similar to the alleged advance fee scam described at Mr. Lovisa’s July 10, 2018 indictment. The 2010 lawsuit was settled via a stipulation filed with the Court on 4/19/12. A review of the 2010 lawsuit reveals the suspected money trail in that case could have consisted of shell companies and post office boxes. The 2010 lawsuit claimed Mr. Lovisa had sent personalized mailers in violation of 15 U.S.C. §45 (a), which prohibits unfair or deceptive acts. One of these alleged mailers mentioned by the 2010 lawsuit, is reproduced below.
First image: pickbiz/Shutterstock.com
Copyright 2018 Fred L. Abrams