Sometimes, individuals or companies who wish to withhold payment for a debt or an obligation will attempt to hide their assets from those who may have a legal interest in them. Hidden assets are commonly encountered in divorce suits, but these may also be factors in cases of debtors who wish to avoid or delay their payments. Hidden assets are legally defined as values that are purposely secreted from disclosure to another; or, in the business setting, assets that are not adequately disclosed in average accounting records, particularly balance sheets. These assets could be anything from stocks and bonds to bank accounts; at times, uncovering them could be very difficult. This often requires thorough and intensive private investigations, which could delve into various possible means of hiding assets.
Are you having trouble collecting money from people who owe you money? If your answer is "Yes", it's time to contact us, our "Asset Tracing" services will help you solve this problem.
Our Private Investigator Switzerland team is ready to be hired in order to perform asset tracing services for a variety of reasons. This type of service often includes divorce matters, ongoing litigation, as well as leverage during the time of various negotiations in order to see if indeed, a case needs to be filed. At the same time, these private detectives do not really have the authority to have access to valuable information like investment accounts, or bank accounts. Therefore, they need to utilize a creative way to identify assets. There are different sources and methods used by Private Investigator Switzerland in order to perform and conduct an extensive investigation in order to legally present asset information by means of using public records and open sources. During the course of the investigation, fraud may also be determined. As a result, this will provide an outcome that needs justice to intervene there are still other Procedures done by team Private Investigator Switzerland in order to help their clients perform asset tracing services.
Asset tracing or Asset Recovery is a legal process of locating something of value to an individual or company that has been misappropriated. Asset tracing is closely related to fraud or theft where victims lost their assets due to unfortunate events such as scams, embezzlement, or theft, and now they want to use this tool called asset tracing to initiate the asset recovery process.
Hidden assets are legally defined as values that are purposely secreted from disclosure to another; or, in the business setting, assets that are not properly disclosed in normal accounting records, particularly balance sheets. These assets could be anything from stocks and bonds to bank accounts; and at times, uncovering them could be very difficult to accomplish. This often requires thorough and intensive private investigations, which could delve into various possible means of hiding assets.
Fraudulent transfers
Debtors—companies or individuals—could hide assets by transferring them to family members or friends, or to offshore accounts, prior to judgment. This prevents creditors from gaining possession of or collecting from these assets. If it can be proven in court that such a transfer has been made prior to judgment, the assets could be re-transferred to the debtor and be made available for collection. The most common way of proving a fraudulent transfer is by checking the debtor’s transactions to see if any large payment has been made by the debtor to another individual or entity before judgment.
Financial statements
Unearthing hidden assets may involve looking at debtors’ financial activities through transactions reflected on financial statements, such as credit card statements and bank account statements. Unusual or increased activity can signal a fraudulent transfer of assets. An uncharacteristic withdrawal, for example, might mean that the debtor is moving cash to a hidden account.
Credit reports may also provide clues to hidden assets, through information on credit or other accounts that are unknown to creditors or other interested parties.
Consequences
You, as a creditor, should be careful to ensure that debtors are upfront about their assets. Any person or company found guilty of fraudulent transfers may be criminally or civilly charged with fraud. Uncovering hidden assets and fraudulent transfers may be necessary to make sure you collect properly from the wrong debtor. Experienced private detectives and investigators like ours at Private Investigator Switzerland offer valuable services in this regard and will help pursue those who try to evade their obligations by circumventing the law.
If you have any inquiries about our investigations, do not hesitate to email us at: info@private-investigator-switzerland.com or call + 41 44 586 60 33. You may also complete our online inquiry form! Private Investigator Switzerland Schaffhauserstrasse 550. CH-8050 Zürich Switzerland T. +41 44 586 60 33
Comments