asset recovery

Subscribe to asset recovery via RSS

My January 13th post notes that divorcing spouses can employ nominees, (i.e. intermediaries), to secretly purchase property, conceal bank accounts, etc.  Prosecutors claimed Attorney Orion Douglas Memmott similarly used nominees to hide assets from the IRS.  Mr. Memmott’s 2010 superseding indictment asserted Mr. Memmott hid assets from the IRS by “placing real property in the names of nominees…” It charged him with attempted tax evasion (26 U.S.C. § 7201) and perjury/false statements (26 U.S.C. § 7206 (1).  Prosecutors alleged Mr. Memmott hid real estate titled in the name of Mr. Memmott’s nominee, his ex-wife Sheila Enos-Boyd.  Mr. Memmott was found guilty of these charges and on December 15, 2014, the Court sentenced him to 18 months of prison.

THE RED FLAGS

A) Nominees

In addition to hiding real estate through his nominee, prosecutors accused Mr. Memmott of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from law firm clients and friends.  One of Mr. Memmott’s victims was Merrill Osmond, lead singer of the world famous Osmond family.  Mr. Memmott is believed to have embezzled $60,000 from Mr. Osmond.  Another victim was Ms. Ranelle Wallace, who was left homeless by Mr. Memmott because he reportedly embezzled $37,000 from her.  Prosecutors claimed Mr. Memmott hid these and other funds he embezzled, in business bank accounts belonging to his nominees.  Mr. Memmott’s suspected use of nominees to conceal assets, was just one red flag of fraud in his case.  Other red flags were: Mr. Memmott’s claim at his June 9, 2005 IRS Form 433-A, that he had no bank accounts; Mr. Memmott’s alleged use of back-dated promissory notes; and Mr. Memmott’s suspected use of a business bank account instead of a trust account.

B) Mr. Memmott’s June 9th 433-A Form

Click Here for the June 9th 433-A Form¹

When the IRS determined that Mr. Memmott owed about $655,555 in unpaid personal federal income taxes for years 1993-1999, it assigned IRS Revenue Officer Miller to search for Mr. Memmott’s assets.  On June 9, 2005 Officer Miller had Mr. Memmott execute an IRS Form 433-A, Collection Information Statement.  At this June 9th Form, Mr. Memmott indicated he had no personal bank accounts.  This was a red flag for Officer Miller who testified at Mr. Memmott’s trial that: “I just found it very odd that the defendant was an attorney, a businessman, he was receiving Social Security, but he had no personal bank accounts. So that was kind of an indicator of fraud for me because it just was so out of the ordinary to have someone of that stature not have a personal bank account.”  
Continue Reading Red Flags & The IRS Search For Attorney Memmott’s 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),…

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

At Carmelite Chambers International Fraud & Assert Recovery Conference, I met Advocate & English Barrister Stephen Baker of Baker & Partners from St. Helier, Jersey.  During the Conference, Mr. Baker presented his slideshow with case studies about recovering suspected corruption proceeds or other assets.

Some of Mr. Baker’s slides reveal how foreign bank accounts; multiple jurisdictions and nominees, (i.e. intermediaries), could be used as elements in suspected laundering schemes:

One topic Mr. Baker’s slideshow covers is the investigation of the late Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha.  As Baker & Partners’ webpage explains: “Baker & Partners were central to the successful Jersey investigation into the alleged laundering of the proceeds of the corrupt Nigerian Dictator General Abacha’s crimes through Jersey. This investigation has already resulted in over USD $160,000,000 being returned to Nigeria.”


Continue Reading Searching For Corruption Proceeds & Other Assets On The Island Of Jersey

This is the ninth post in the “Divorce & Hidden Money” series.  By failing to disclose any offshore assets, one divorcing spouse may cheat the other out of child support, alimony or other court awards.  A spouse cheated this way might however, file requests for judicial assistance, (a.k.a. requests for legal assistance, letters of request, or letters rogatory), in a foreign country to collect evidence from witnesses residing there.  

Evidence collected from the foreign witnesses may prove a divorcing spouse concealed bank accounts, businesses, real estate or additional assets offshore.  The post highlights a request for judicial assistance in the U.S. filed by Helga Glock, (“Ms. Glock”), former wife of billionaire Gaston Glock, (“Mr. Glock”), inventor of the Glock pistol.   It features a January 31, 2010 letter Mr. Glock allegedly wrote to his family discussing his plans for them.  The post also discusses accessing Swiss bank account information and updates Helga Glock Claims Gaston Glock Started Concealing His Assets, published January 1st.    

THE LETTER TO MR. GLOCK’S FAMILY

After her divorce from Mr. Glock in Austria on June 27, 2011, Ms. Glock made a  March 18, 2013 request for judicial assistance, (“the Request”),  in the case called In Re: Application of H.M.G., Index No. 13-cv-02598.  The Request included a January 31, 2010 letter, (“the Letter”), Mr. Glock allegedly wrote to his family.  If genuine, the Letter gives a glimpse of Mr. Glock’s dealings with Ms. Glock and their children who worked in the family’s gunmaking business.  The Letter mentioned “the Privatstiftung”, a trust/Austrian private foundation Mr. Glock, Ms. Glock and others reportedly set up as co-settlors.  Some of the key points Mr. Glock allegedly made at the Letter were:

  • “In 1999 I decided to restructure the Glock Group and secure it for all succeeding generations to come through the  Privatstiftung (trust).”

  • “I guarantee the agreed upon payments to the beneficiaries for a lifetime.  I therefore expect appreciation, compliance and acceptance and the respect I deserve as a father.”

  • “I am working on a ‘Glock code of conduct’ which will be implemented and will require all employees and family who access the benefits to adhere to.”

  • “I will not allow any interference with my life long business endeavors.  Therefore, all employed family members will withdraw from the company’s operations.”

(Click On The Image To Read The Letter & Its English Translation)

 


Continue Reading Divorce & Hidden Money: Helga Glock’s Search For Gaston Glock’s Assets

Identifying and immobilizing assets in a timely fashion can be paramount to asset recovery cases ranging from an ultra- high net worth divorce to a forced collection proceeding against a debtor.

The abstract about “Suspending Suspicious Transactions” ¹ similarly mentions the “timely identification and immobilization” of  assets.  The abstract discusses this with regard…

I will present my program “The Ins & Outs Of Recovering Assets Via Whistleblowers & Other Tipsters” in London at 11:40 AM June 23, 2014, during the Carmelite Chambers International Fraud & Asset Recovery Conference.   “The Ins & Outs Of Recovering Assets Via Whistleblowers & Other Tipsters” highlights how whistleblowers sniff out vast sums of money hidden through laundering and other asset concealment schemes.  I open the program by discussing the fact pattern of a divorcing husband hiding tens of millions of dollars from his wife and domestic tax authorities, by using shell companies, multiple jurisdictions, etc.

The program features Washington, DC attorney Jack Blum who will talk about the IRS Whistleblower Program.  Mr. Blum has been an expert witness for the U.S. Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service.  Mr. Blum additionally served as associate counsel, or assistant counsel, or special counsel to three U.S. Senate committees or subcommittees; and been quoted by or mentioned in thousands of newspaper and magazine articles around the world.

Since he resigned at the end of 2008, as “Of Counsel” to Baker & Hostetler’s Washington, DC office, Mr. Blum practices part-time for a select group of clients.  Just one of Mr. Blum’s clients is whistleblower Rudolf Elmer.  As described by “Swiss Banker Blows Whistle on Tax Evasion”, Mr. Elmer provided tips to the IRS, a U.S. Senate subcommittee and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, about suspected tax cheats with offshore bank accounts.  At a January 17, 2011 Frontline Club Press Conference, Mr. Elmer also supplied WikiLeaks with this same kind of information.  Mr. Elmer’s whistleblowing led to his criminal prosecution by Swiss authorities, on charges that he violated Swiss bank secrecy law.Continue Reading Carmelite Chambers International Fraud & Asset Recovery Conference

The post “An Asset Search, Tax Fraud & Divorce” was first published at the Asset Search Blog on January 16, 2008.  It is republished below as the seventh post in the “Divorce & Hidden Money” series.  The post describes my investigation of a divorcing husband.  While I was the divorcing wife’s attorney, I discovered the husband had hidden money offshore in anticipation of the divorce.  I also suspected the husband concealed this money from the IRS in furtherance of a tax fraud.

If evidence of tax fraud is brought to the attention of a judge presiding over a divorce, the judge may report the fraud to the IRS.  When the divorcing husband admitted in his affidavit that he had not paid taxes, the judge in Hashimoto v. De La Rosa, 2004 slip op. 51081(Sup. Ct. N.Y. County, June 23, 2004) reported him to the I.R.S.  In Beth M. v. Joseph M., 2006 slip op. 51490 (Sup. Ct. Nassau County, July 25, 2006), the judge similarly reported a husband who testified during court proceedings that he had not filed tax returns for the years 1997 through 2001 and other times.

Some divorcing spouses meanwhile, directly tip the IRS about their spouse’s tax fraud.  The spouses supplying these tips may be eligible for a reward as participants in the IRS Whistleblower program.  It typically takes six or more years for an IRS whistleblower to collect any reward and a whistleblower can face many challenges.  More information about blowing the whistle is at the Reuters article Record $104 million reward boosts whistleblowing on tax cheats, which cites me; and the New York Times article The Price Whistle-Blowers Pay For Secrets.
Continue Reading Divorce & Hidden Money: Whistleblowing, Tax Fraud & Tipping The IRS