We usually blog here about how to find hidden assets in the context of a divorce, however, we recently came across a story that serves to caution those entering a marriage not to relinquish all control over the family finances.
According to media reports, accused fraudster, Steven Wessel, is currently trying to seek a plea deal in a federal case alleging that he used a sham investment company to dupe investors out of money. What we found particularly interesting about Wessel from a Divorce Asset Hunter standpoint, is that, in a separate action, he has also been accused of scamming his wife, Mary Margaret Butler, and causing her Upper West Side home to go into foreclosure behind her back. While we haven’t seen this particular scenario before, we did have one client in Pennsylvania whose husband secretly conveyed her interest in a shared property to her husband’s cousin right under her nose.
So how does that happen? Wouldn’t you know if your home went into foreclosure? Butler claims that when she married Wessel in 2003, she turned over all of her finances to him, despite the fact that she was the sole owner of her apartment. She says she did this because she was under the impression that he had “extensive expertise” in investment banking. Wessel told Butler that he had paid off the mortgage on the apartment and showed her falsified letters purportedly from the bank evidencing the payoff. When Wessel was arrested for his investment scheme in June 2014, Butler went to bail him out of jail using her apartment as collateral, but instead learned that her lender had foreclosed on the apartment back in April. She also found out that she was a party to an eviction action brought against her by the bank. Wessel had accepted service of the lawsuit but did not notify Butler.
Although we think this level of fraud between spouses is uncommon, we do think it’s prudent to at least keep your finger on the pulse of the family finances. Most times, we see smaller financial secrets, like a spouse taking secret vacations with a mistress or mister, but it can’t hurt to take a peek at your monthly bank account and mortgage statements. You don’t have to be an expert in finance to know that your mortgage payments aren’t being paid, and the more you know about the family finances during the marriage, the better chance you’ll be able to find hidden assets if the marriage ever breaks down.