Tag Archives: Asset Search Blog

Using Discovery to Search for Hidden Assets.

20 Wednesday Apr 2016

Posted by in Discovery, Requests for Production, Subpoena Duces Tecum

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Using A Production Request In Your Asset Search, by Fred L. Abrams, Asset Search Blog (Fred L. Abrams©2016)

http://bit.ly/20OGtRn

If you are a divorcing spouse, judgment creditor or other litigant, how do you conclusively establish whether or not assets have been hidden from you? You can sometimes reasonably determine this by using legal tools to search for assets. In a pending litigation, these tools might include: depositions; subpoenas; interrogatories; production requests; etc.

Below is part of a production request in the hypothetical case of ‘JOHN DOE.’ The production request seeks access to JOHN DOE’s passport; credit cards; phone records; etc. By analyzing this kind of material one might possibly detect secret offshore bank accounts or other hidden assets. . . .

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When A Divorcing Spouse Hides Assets, How Do You Find The Red Flags?

12 Tuesday May 2015

Posted by in Family Law, Hidden Assets, Marital Asset

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Divorce & Hidden Money: Searching For Assets By Recognizing Red Flags, by Fred Abrams, Asset Search Blog

http://www.assetsearchblog.com/2015/04/20/divorce-hidden-money-searching-for-assets-by-recognizing-red-flags/

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 been hidden are listed at my post ‘Locating Hidden Assets By Spotting The Red Flags.’ The list describes 18 red flags including the use of: multiple jurisdictions, sham trusts, bulk-cash smuggling, etc. In addition to the 18 on the list, below are 6 more red flags of asset concealment. The 6 red flags or money laundering indicators were published by the Egmont Group, an international organization which fights money laundering and terrorist financing.¹   Even though some of them discuss criminals or laundering, the 6 red flags might be used to help locate assets hidden by a divorcing spouse ….

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What Can You Do When The Divorcing Spouse Hides Marital Assets In A Trust?

24 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by in Discovery, Family Law, Hidden Assets, Interrogatories, Requests for Production, Trusts

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Divorce & Hidden Money: Collecting Evidence About Assets Concealed By A Trust, by Fred Abrams, Asset Search Blog

http://tinyurl.com/pnb78wc

Mroy 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 use the pretrial discovery phase of a divorce to gather evidence about any marital assets concealed by a trust. Based on this evidence, the divorcing spouse may be able to credibly argue that assets at the trust are marital property subject to distribution by the Court. A divorcing spouse might also claim the trust was void if the trust was ‘self-settled‘ (i.e. the grantor and beneficiary were found to be one and the same). Under certain circumstances a divorcing spouse can additionally assert the trust veil should be pierced because the trust wrongly concealed assets &/or facilitated fraudulent transfers. See Babitt v. Vebeliunas (In re Vebeliunas), 332 F.3d 85, 91 (2d Cir. 2003) (discussing New York cases where right to pierce trust veil was preserved). . . .

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Hiring A Private Investigator To Find Hidden Assets?

04 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by in Divorce, Family Law, Finance and Banking Law, Hidden Assets

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Private Investigators: 5 Things To Be Aware Of When Hiring A PI For A Bank Account Search, by Fred L. Abrams, Asset Search Blog

http://tinyurl.com/k6l5nah

This is the first post in my new series about what private investigators can & cannot do legally when searching for hidden assets. Divorcing spouses, creditors bringing forced collection proceedings, etc., may search for assets by hiring private investigators and/or information brokers who try to detect secret bank accounts. The post asks: what standards should be followed when investigating bank accounts at U.S. financial institutions? At the conclusion it discusses some best practices. . . .

Identifying, Then Immobilizing, Stolen Assets.

31 Friday Oct 2014

Posted by in Bankruptcy Law, Child Support, Criminal Law, Divorce, Family Law, Finance and Banking Law, Hidden Assets, Marital Asset

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Recovering Assets By Identifying & Immobilizing Them, by Fred Abrams, Asset Search Blog

http://tinyurl.com/pmmjgke

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 to money laundering and terrorist financing:

‘Seizure and confiscation of proceeds of crime, and funds intended to finance terrorism, are key objectives of the global initiative to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. The timely identification and immobilization of such funds are critical to permit the action necessary to prevent the flight of illicit assets beyond the reach of national law enforcement and prosecutorial authorities.’

Suspending Suspicious Transactions was published during July 2013 by the World Bank.  It examines the role Financial Intelligence Units, (‘FIUs’), can have in freezing assets and/or postponing financial transactions at banks.

Suspending Suspicious Transactions also supplies fact patterns showing how FIUs work under anti-money laundering/countering financing of  terrorism, (‘AML/CFT”), laws. . . .

Four More Ways Soon-To-Be-Divorced Spouses May Use To Conceal Assets.

04 Friday Jul 2014

Posted by in Family Law, Marital Asset

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Divorce & Hidden Money: Four Methods Spouses Sometimes Use To Conceal Assets, by Fred Abrams, Asset Search Blog

http://tinyurl.com/lf8cndm

This is the eighth post in the ‘Divorce & Hidden Money’ series.  Like ‘Four Asset Concealment Tools’ and ‘Four Ways Assets Can Be Secretly Transferred,’ the post reveals methods a spouse may use to hide marital assets and keep more than his/her fair share of the marital estate. . . .

Divorcing Husband’s Hidden Assets and Tax Fraud.

16 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by in Child Support, Divorce, Family Law, Hidden Assets

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Divorce & Hidden Money: Whistleblowing, Tax Fraud & Tipping The IRS, by Fred Abrams, Asset Search Blog

http://tinyurl.com/l22u73b

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.