2008 was the first time I wrote an article mentioning hiding assets via a lawyer in Panama. The article was called “Bearer Shares & An Asset Search.” Although the facts at the article were sanitized & changed for privacy reasons, it described a divorcing husband in the U.S hiding assets from both his
How do you hamper an asset search while hiding vast sums of money across the globe? You may be able to do this by compartmentalizing your actions. Using compartmentalization to fly under the radar is nothing new. For example, terrorists in Paris compartmentalized what they did before their heinous November 13, 2015 attack. This is
A divorcing spouse; judgment debtor; tax cheat; etc. may use several methods to conceal assets. “Red Flags For An Asset Search” listed 18 of these methods. The methods
Recovering Art Assets & Cultural Heritage Property—covers how divorcing spouses; terrorists & others may employ art to hide their assets. This post was written by Leila A. Amineddoleh, Esq. who is an art and cultural heritage lawyer and an adjunct professor at Fordham
This 26th post in the “Divorce & Hidden Money” series describes one way assets may be laundered through the purchase of real estate. It supplies the hypothetical situation of “Mark,” a high
The following is a list of Asset Search Blog posts which discuss data brokers; private investigators; bankers; suspected tax fraudsters; etc. As these posts show, asset searches & asset recoveries sometimes raise privacy &/or criminal law issues.
If you are a divorcing spouse, judgment creditor or anyone else who believes they may need to do a bank search to locate hidden assets parked offshore, read this post to see how individuals sometimes hide their assets. It covers the legal remedies that may be available to you in your asset search for offshore bank accounts. This post was first published in 2013 and was called “Hidden Assets Offshore & A Bank Search To Find Them.”
Beneficial owners around the world are able to secretly transfer assets across international borders into offshore bank accounts. The beneficial owners sometimes do this by money laundering through multiple jurisdictions; bulk-cash smuggling; back-to-back loans; shell companies; nominee incorporation services & gatekeepers like lawyers. Legal remedies are however, usually available for finding hidden assets transferred offshore. These remedies may even include seeking a court order directing a Swiss or other offshore bank to perform a bank search and disclose bank customer information.
The link chart below describes how one divorcing husband concealed both undeclared revenue and marital assets via multiple jurisdictions.¹ The husband laundered millions from the U.S., through a Swiss bank and a German one. Prior to the equitable distribution hearing in his divorce, the husband alleged he had a liability of $29 million owed to a prime bank in Germany because of an arm’s length business loan. As this link chart reveals, the supposed arm’s length loan was back-to-back , (i.e. a fully collateralized loan in which the borrower and the lender are one and the same):
(Click On The Link Chart To Enlarge)
Continue Reading An Asset Search To Find Secret Offshore Bank Accounts
If someone is hiding assets, you might detect the assets by reviewing: corporate records; patents & trademarks; court papers; U.C.C. filings; real estate documents; or through additional basic research. “A Low-Cost Asset Search” gives information about how to perform basic research. Although basic research can lead to a good result, it may not
“UPDATE 1-Two more Swiss banks strike deals with U.S. over tax evasion” reported that the U.S. Department of Justice, (“the DOJ”), reached its 22nd agreement with Swiss banks. A DOJ press release mentions the agreements were pursuant to the Swiss Bank Program. The Swiss Bank Program “provides a path for Swiss
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o not know how many witnesses Brian interviewed while he was an IRS Special Agent or when he was a high-ranking official at U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”). Nor do I know the number of informants’ tips Brian collected over the course of his federal law enforcement career. I did