Fifteen West African countries sent judges; &/or prosecutors; &/or law enforcement agents to attend the asset recovery workshop I recently lectured at in Abuja, Nigeria. I was one of four resource persons at the workshop which was a
On October 8th & 9th in Abuja, Nigeria I will lecture about asset recovery & tracking assets. I will present 2 lectures to law enforcement agents who work in West Africa. The lectures are called “Whistleblowers, Secret Bank Accounts & Recovering Hidden Assets” & “Asset Recovery Case Studies & Discussion.” I am presenting the lectures
I. DURING YOUR ASSET SEARCH LOOK FOR A MONEY TRAILThere 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
My tips for finding hidden money are at Seven Tools For A Successful Asset Search. Hiring a private investigator is also usually a good idea. For additional help in your search for hidden money, you may need some of the following.
If forged documents were used to hide or steal money,
A scheme to hide assets may start out with the primary goal of placing assets beyond your reach. The scheme may then develop the secondary goal of hiding assets from tax authorities/committing a tax fraud. To increase your chances of a successful asset search, you should therefore look for indicators of tax fraud. A good
During your asset search gather tips from witnesses who not only know about your adversary’s assets but are also at odds with your adversary. If you are litigating
You may be able to use 28 U.S.C. § 1782 to perform asset searches connected to your foreign: divorce; dispute over a will; financial fraud claim; etc. This is true because pursuant to
Searching for an adversary’s hidden assets can be like tracking a shell-game-operator. In USA v. Khalili for instance, Mr. Dan Farhad Khalili was accused of hiding assets & undeclared revenue from the IRS for 15 years at 5 offshore banks. The offshore banks were located in Switzerland & Israel. Although on 4/27/11 Mr. Khalili applied
In the criminal case against Robert Bandfield, the IRS & SEC searched for assets laundered offshore. These assets were the proceeds of stock pump & dump schemes. The illicit proceeds of the pump & dump schemes were more than $250 million. The $250 million was believed to be hidden by money laundering carried out by
A person who resides & is sued out of the U.S. may hide assets in the U.S. This person could hide assets by secretly: purchasing real estate in the U.S.; opening bank accounts in the U.S.; titling property in the names of shell companies formed in the U.S.; etc. How can you search for assets