Tools For A Successful Asset Search (Part 1 of 2)

By Fred Abrams on November 2nd, 2015Posted in Asset Search/Fraud Investigation, Divorce & Child Support, Financial Institutions, Hidden Money,Securities Fraud, Tax Fraud

You may have to use different legal tools to shake loose assets an adversary hides from you.  The tools available to you will depend on the particular situation.  When assets are hidden from you, tools which may help your asset search or asset recovery effort include:

·         Requests for letters rogatory (a.k.a requests for judicial assistance)—are used to gather evidence from witnesses residing offshore.  This means that a divorcing spouse; judgment creditor; etc. may utilize these requests to collect evidence about offshore bank accounts from foreign bank witnesses.  Billionaire gunmaker Gaston Glock’s former wife Helga filed a request for judicial assistance in federal court in Atlanta, Georgia.  It claimed that because of the couple’s divorce in Austria, Helga Glock needed to collect evidence about Gaston Glock’s assets from businesses in Georgia including Glock, Inc.

·         Compelled consent or authorization forms—the forms can be utilized if you already know: where your adversary’s bank is located; the bank account number; and the identity of the bank signatory.  You would apply to the Court for an order, (i.e. a judicial direction), compelling the bank signatory to execute a consent/authorization form for the release of bank account information.  You then send this executed form to your adversary’s bank which permits the bank to release your adversary’s bank account information to you.

·         Informants’ tips—are one of the best ways to detect complex asset concealment schemes.  This is why the Securities Exchange Commission & the Internal Revenue Service offer tipsters rewards through whistleblower programs.  A business partner; paramour; family member; or others associated with your adversary may have direct knowledge of your adversary’s assets.  If any of them fall out of favor with your adversary they may be especially willing to tip you about your adversary’s hidden assets.  An attempt to elicit a tip from an informant is covered by the post “An Asset Search, Tax Fraud & Divorce.”

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