Investigating & Recovering Hidden Money & Other Assets
In the Breaking Bad television series, Walter White hid profits from his illegal manufacture of methamphetamine. He hid illicit drug profits in a crawl space under his house, as the video above partly reveals. Walter and his wife Skyler also laundered money through the A1A Car Wash. Walter’s partner in crime, (Breaking Bad’s Jesse Pinkman),…
In 2010, German customs police discovered that Mr. Cornelius Gurlitt had travelled by train from Zurich to Munich with a large sum of cash. A subsequent investigation revealed that Mr. Gurlitt reportedly failed to file tax returns. Since Mr. Gurlitt was suspected of a possible tax fraud, a search warrant for his Munich apartment was issued. Reuters, the Daily Mail, and The Economist explained that during the execution of the search warrant, approximately 1400 paintings were discovered stashed in the apartment.
As Germany Says 590 Artworks in Munich Haul May Be Nazi Loot suggests, some of these paintings will be the subjects of Holocaust-era art restitution claims filed by the heirs of Jewish art collectors. Raymond Dowd, Esq. handles these kinds of claims. Mr. Dowd tried Bakalar v. Vavra, Index No. 05-CV-3037 (S.D.N.Y.), the first Nazi-era art case ever to go to trial in federal court. He also lectured widely on Nazi-era art restitution cases, including at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, Israel; the Jewish Museum, Berlin, Germany; The Prague Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets, Czech Republic; the New York State Bar Association and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.Continue Reading Stashed Paintings Bring Issue Of Art Restitution To The Forefront
When analyzing the secret transfer of Nazi-looted art to museums and private collections, one may detect the use of multiple jurisdictions, nominees, forgeries or other common concealment methods.
In some cases, these concealment methods are jointly employed to launder the title of looted artwork, similar to the way that illicit funds may be…
The Holocaust-era assets of Hungarian Jews and the arrest of CEO Raymond Bitar:
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More than 20% of Europe’s art could have been looted by the Nazis during the Holocaust and in countless cases, the looted art was ultimately transferred to museums and private collections. When analyzing these transfers, one may detect the use of multiple jurisdictions, forgeries or other common concealment methods. Given the foregoing, this “Asset…
Individuals ranging from Nazi war criminals to tax fraudsters have long been known to secretly transfer assets by smuggling cash. Today’s “Asset Search News Roundup” focuses on this smuggling.
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A class action complaint filed in Illinois alleges that five foreign banks are liable for the Holocaust-era looting of financial accounts belonging to Hungarian Jews. The heirs of some of the Hungarian Jews filed this complaint in the case known as Holocaust Victims of Bank Theft v. Magyar Nemzeti Bank, et. al., Index No.…
The June 8th “Asset Search News Roundup” covers Holocaust-era assets and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units.
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"French Bank Agreement" indicates that Jewish Holocaust victims were paid restitution because French financial institutions had wrongfully seized Jewish-owned bank accounts during WWII. Holocaust victims who possess claims against the French railway Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (SNCF), might similarly receive restitution.
These claimants seek compensation from SNCF because it…
Nazi-looted art, bankruptcy estate assets, marital assets and almost anything else can conceivably be secretly transferred by common methods. Just a few of the common methods include the use of intermediaries (i.e. nominees), forgeries, portable valuable commodities and multiple jurisdictions to fraudulently transfer or hide assets.
By studying these kinds of methods, the continuing…