Asset Search/Fraud Investigation

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"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 Madoff’s Securities Fraud".

The Lautenberg plaintiffs are damaged investors of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme and their lawsuit alleges they were injured by Bernard’s younger brother Peter.  As mentioned by their lawsuit, Peter Madoff is allegedly liable for his supposed tortious conduct while working as a "control person" at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC  ("BLMIS").

While the Lautenberg plaintiffs argue that Peter Madoff is liable to them, a complaint filed in an adversary proceeding claims that the Lautenberg lawsuit tries to wrongly recover BLMIS assets from Peter Madoff.  This May 27, 2010 adversary complaint filed by Bernard Madoff Trustee Irving Picard, asserts that the Launtenberg plaintiffs were participants in Trustee Picard’s claims process for damaged investors.Continue Reading Peter Madoff & His Competing Claimants

A frequently asked questions Web page published by the Financial Action Task Force discusses multilateral initiatives and states: “Large-scale money laundering schemes invariably contain cross-border elements.”  The Trevor Cook receiver undoubtedly recognizes the foregoing because he is tracking receivership estate assets across international borders, on behalf of investors damaged by Ponzi schemer and securities fraudster Trevor Cook.

Among other things, the Cook receiver is trying to interdict assets which may have been laundered through Mr. Cook’s purchase of real property in Canada and Panama and by Mr. Cook’s transfer of funds into Swiss bank accounts.  Swiss authorities have already frozen a one million dollar bank account at UBS AG connected to Mr. Cook, on the ground of suspected money laundering.

Swiss authorities probably froze this bank account by relying on anti-money laundering legislation including Art. 305bis of the Swiss Criminal Code.  Art. 305bis says in part:

“Whoever commits an act suited to frustrate the determination of the origin, the discovery or the confiscation of assets that he knows or should know derive from a crime, shall be punished with imprisonment or a fine“Continue Reading Tracking Trevor Cook’s Assets Across U.S.-Swiss Borders

Forensic scientist Richard T. Picciochi is a questioned document examiner who can establish genuineness by identifying handwriting, machine printing, paper, writing instruments and inks.  Mr. Picciochi was formerly an NYPD detective and he learned questioned document examination through on-the-job apprenticeship at the NYPD and via training by the FBI and Secret Service.

Before retiring from the NYPD, he participated in cases which included the assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane (the founder of the JDL); the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 1993; the abduction of Harvey Weinstein who was buried alive for almost two weeks; and the homicide of Manhattan socialite Irene Silverman.  Mr. Piccochi additionally testified at the criminal trial of the Zodiac serial killer in NYC who left behind cryptic notes like this one:

Continue Reading Using Forensic Science To Fight Financial Fraud

During his marriage to actress LisaRaye McCoy, ex-Turks and Caicos premier Michael Misick was investigated for public corruption by the Turks and Caicos Islands Commission of Inquiry. The ex-premier’s suspicious activities were believed to be so harmful, they contributed to the UK Government decision to suspend parts of the 2006 Turks Caicos Island…

A 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…

"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…

The IRS is concentrating on tax fraud schemes in which assets are concealed by cross-border elements.  A recent Reuters’ article and a Department of Justice press release discussed such tax frauds, which the IRS refers to as abusive offshore tax avoidance schemes.  To try to detect these schemes, the IRS has used methods ranging…

My article "Wachovia Bank & Its Bank Secrecy Act Issues" said that Ponzi scheme victims do not possess a cognizable claim against financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act.  Concurring and quoting me was Moneylaundering.com’s "Florida Court Unlikely to Find Wachovia, Mastercard Civilly Liable for Missing Ponzi Scheme":

 

 (Click On…

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s family foundation is one of three plaintiffs in The Lautenberg Foundation v. Madoff, 09-Civ-00816.  The Lautenberg Plaintiffs had reportedly invested approximately $8.9 million in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.  They seek to recover losses through their February 24, 2009 complaint against Bernard Madoff’s younger brother, Peter.  Although part of the complaint was dismissed by the Court’s September 9, 2009 Order and Opinion, four causes of action remain against Peter Madoff.   

These remaining causes of action are for Peter Madoff’s alleged: breach of a fiduciary duty; aiding and abetting a breach of fiduciary duty; negligence; and a supposed violation of Section 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  Via their March 12, 2010 notice of motion, memorandum of law, statement of facts, etc., the Plaintiff’s moved under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 for summary judgment on their Securities Exchange Act cause of action.  In the above-mentioned statement of facts, Plaintiffs asserted they sustained nearly $6.5 million in actual losses.

According to the Plaintiffs, a "Uniform Application For Investment Adviser Registration" filed with the SEC shows that both Peter and Bernard Madoff had been "control persons" at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC ("BMIS").  As the highlighted excerpt from page twenty of this registration form could indicate, Peter Madoff might have been such a "control person" since 1969:

(Click On The Image To Read The Entire Registration Form)

Continue Reading Suing Peter Madoff For Bernard Madoff’s Securities Fraud

My most recent “Asset Search News Roundup” reported about the April 13, 2010 plea agreement executed by securities fraudster and Ponzi schemer Trevor Cook.  In this plea deal, Mr. Cook pleaded guilty to tax and mail fraud charges, agreed to make restitution and is supposed to fully disclose his assets to prosecutors.

Mr. Cook must also cooperate with Receiver R.J. Zayed, who seeks to recover Receivership assets for the benefit of Mr. Cook’s Ponzi scheme victims.  Before the plea agreement happened, the Receiver made his March 29th statement.  It expressed “shared concern & frustration” over the asset recovery effort launched against Mr. Cook.  In this statement, the Receiver acknowledged that his efforts targeting Mr. Cook, have been criticized:

 (Click On The Following Image To Read The Complete Statement)

Continue Reading Interdicting A Ponzi Schemer’s Assets