A divorcing spouse could conceivably hide the following types of assets offshore: bank accounts; business entities; trust funds; real estate; aircrafts & yachts; automobiles; fine art and other valuables. Leads which may help reveal the existence of these offshore assets might be elicited from a divorcing spouse’s: passport(s); frequent flyer mile program
My last 2 posts discussed asset recovery tools such as recognizing red flags & using compelled consent forms. Assets might also be recovered as a consequence of researching public records. This 18th post in the “Divorce & Hidden Money” series focuses on how one can perform a low-cost asset search by digging
This 17th post in the “Divorce & Hidden Money” series details how compelled consent forms are sometimes used to gather confidential foreign bank account records. In Doe v. United States, 487 U.S. 201, 108 S. Ct. 2341, 101 L. Ed. 2d 184 (1988), the Court talked about using these forms in connection
If a divorcing spouse hides marital assets there usually are red flags. Red flags are also often found when assets have been hidden by tax fraudsters, Ponzi schemers, bankruptcy debtors, money launderers & narco-traffickers. This 16th post in the “Divorce & Hidden Money ” series examines the red flags.
Red flags indicating assets might have
My post “Four Asset Concealment Tools” says that assets can be hidden by fraudulently transferring them to a trust. This 15th post in the “Divorce & Hidden Money” series concentrates on the evidence a divorcing spouse might try to collect if marital assets are concealed by a trust.
A spouse can
This 14th post in the “Divorce & Hidden Money” series focuses on an ex-husband who lived offshore and had not paid child support or spousal maintenance for decades. In such situations, letters rogatory might be filed to help gather evidence about any assets hidden offshore. If assets are hidden offshore, another remedy may be filing a lawsuit alleging assets have been fraudulently transferred.
For thirty years the ex-husband in Janet O. v. James O., slip op. 51985 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. County, October 17, 2006) had not made one single child or spousal maintenance support payment. By living in places like Barbados, the Dominican Republic and Mexico, the ex-husband had offshore asset protection and could hinder enforcement proceedings brought for his ex-wife &/or their three sons. After the divorce, the ex-husband remarried and adopted his new wife’s two daughters. Meanwhile, his ex-wife and three sons were relegated to a life of hardship, poverty and public assistance.
One of their sons even had to quit college to become a construction worker to support the ex-wife. Likely to have little practical effect on the absconding ex-husband were: the seizure of New York bank accounts, income tax refunds and lottery winnings; the denial of new and renewed passports; driving license restrictions and the referral of cases for criminal prosecution. See generally N.Y. Dom. Rel. §§ 244; 244 (a) – (d) & 245, Family Court Act §§454, 458-a, 458-b & N.Y. Civ. Prac. L & R § 5241. Given the ex-husband’s default for decades, the Janet O. Court did however, indicate it would seek the ex-husband’s extradition.
Although it was not financially feasible for the above-mentioned ex-wife, a letter rogatory, (a.k.a legal assistance request or letter of request), might have helped her situation. In some cases, letters rogatory can be effective against a divorcing spouse or non-custodial parent hiding assets offshore. By filing letters rogatory, one may search for secret bank accounts &/or collect financial evidence from witnesses residing offshore. Letters rogatory are often sought pursuant to The Hague Convention, Taking of Evidence (1970) No. 20.¹ A New York court may issue a letter rogatory to a foreign court as contemplated by Fed. R. Civ. P. 28 (b); Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(f)(2)(B); &/or N.Y. Civ. Prac. L & R 3018. N.Y. Civ. Prac. L & R 3108 for example, says:
Continue Reading Divorce & Hidden Money: Filing Letters Rogatory & Lawsuits Over Offshore Assets
The City of Zürich has a website that says “[a]s the largest city in Switzerland, Zürich is the economic motor of the surrounding region and indeed the whole country.” This 13th post in the “Divorce & Hidden Money” series examines what a divorcing spouse might do if marital assets are concealed in a Zürich bank account or elsewhere in Switzerland. The post was first published at The Asset Search Blog during 2008 and the post still provides up-to-date information. The post analyzes ways one can interdict bank accounts & other assets hidden in Switzerland. It quotes Swiss counsel who describes using criminal law tools; attaching (i.e. freezing) assets; seeking letters rogatory; & tipping the Swiss Money Laundering Reporting Office (“MROS”):
“As you probably know, Switzerland does not follow the common law doctrine. We do not adhere to the institution of discovery. The usual tools available to a claimant are therefore the filing of a criminal complaint, which is actually the most efficient way to get past the banking secrecy. Access to the information will be granted only if someone can be indicted. In exceptional circumstances a broader access to the information collected within the frame of the criminal investigation can be granted on a discretionary basis.
If the claimant does not wish to resort to the criminal law tools, he has the option to file an attachment. In order to obtain an attachment, the claimant must show that his case presents a close enough connection to Switzerland. He must establish that the assets are located in Switzerland and he must make a summary statement of his claim.
It is usually required that a guarantee equivalent to 10% of the claim be filed; in certain circumstances, the payment of a guarantee requirement may be avoided especially where the claimant initially filed a criminal complaint under which the same assets have been attached by the criminal judge. The combination of a criminal and civil attachment is recommended in some instances.
Continue Reading Divorce & Hidden Money: How Does A Divorcing Spouse Recover Assets Concealed In A Swiss Bank Account?
I first published this post on December 14, 2007 and it is now the 12th post in the “Divorce & Hidden Money” series. As shown below, a divorcing spouse’s effort to valuate marital assets occasionally raises tax fraud or other criminal law issues. Furthermore, assets and income can be concealed by pocketing cash
Like my posts dated July 3 & February 3, 2014 & December 9, 2013, today’s post outlines tactics for hiding assets. Today’s post is also the 11th post in my Divorce & Hidden Money series.
Your divorcing husband/wife may try to cheat you out of your fair share of marital assets by employing the
This is the 2nd post in my series about private investigators & what they can & cannot do legally when searching for assets. It is also the 10th post in my Divorce & Hidden Money series. The Huffington Post article “Uncovering Hidden Assets In Divorce Litigation” observes that information obtained by “surreptitious means” might be used by one divorcing spouse against the other. Obtaining information through a surreptitious search can be critical to recovering assets in a broad range of criminal & civil cases. Depending on the circumstances, surreptitious searches might involve wiretaps; bank searches; law enforcement databases; and physical surveillance. These surreptitious means have however, sometimes been abused by private investigators, attorneys & others in the following ways:
WIRETAPS– As stated in testimony at a 1967 U.S. Senate hearing ‘private bugging in this country can be divided into two broad categories, commercial espionage and marital litigation.’ ¹ Former attorney Mary Nolan handled divorce & family law matters for nearly 30 years before pleading guilty to the wiretapping & tax fraud charges at counts 1-4 &/or 6 of her 2012 criminal indictment. An amended judgment showed Ms. Nolan was sentenced to serve 24 months in prison, 3 years of supervised release, etc. Ms. Nolan’s sentencing memorandum said her cases frequently involved allegations that husbands were hiding assets. The prosecutor’s sentencing memorandum meanwhile, claimed Ms. Nolan had employed a private investigator “to install eavesdropping devices in cars used by her clients’ spouses for use in their divorce proceedings.”
BANK SEARCHES– Some private investigators try to surreptitiously search banks in the U.S. for accounts secretly opened by divorcing spouses, debtors, etc. These investigators may claim they search through computer research; insiders; or information brokers. Private investigators cannot ordinarily search banks legally because of privacy and other U.S. laws, as explained by the post available here. The Court has also noted “it is more likely than not that the only way that information brokers can obtain private financial information from banks is through the use of deception and trickery, including impersonation of account holders.” Commonwealth v. Source One Associates, Inc., No. CIV. A. 98-0507-H, 1999 WL 975120, at *6 (Mass. Super. Oct. 12, 1999) aff’d sub nom. Com. v. Source One Associates, Inc., 436 Mass. 118, 763 N.E.2d 42 (2002).
Continue Reading Private Investigators: A Surreptitious Search For Money Hidden In Divorce & Other Cases