I have a friend facing a divorce. He is quite wealthy and faces losing well over 50% of all he had before his marriage. I am retired with very little cash, and I live in Thailand in a small one-bedroom condo. I have often borrowed money from my friend and currently owe him US$20,000. I am selling the Condo that will allow me to pay him back. He has made me this offer, but I am worried if it is legal. He said he would buy my Condo before his divorce. He wants to pay me US$500,000.00 for it !! Its worth maybe US$45,000.00. He will tell his wife I ripped him off, and he lost the US$500,000 cause he bought my apartment for ten times its value. He asked me to set up an offshore company and put the excess cash in a bank in the Caribbean until the divorce is over; this will wipe out my debt to him. It’s a real good deal for me. I questioned the legality; he said if he makes a bad investment, that’s his problem. If the wife wants the Condo, she can have half of it. Are there any loopholes in his plan? Right now, he has access to the money US$500,000 being maybe 1/4th of his wealth. She will be mad as hell, but what can she do? It is his money. Can I get into trouble, can he? Any advice much appreciated.
If your friend intentionally dissipates marital assets in contemplation of a divorce proceeding, the judge will hold him responsible for that amount of money that has been dissipated. This is clearly an attempt to defraud the wife out of her share of the marital assets, and if you participate in it you will be an accessory to the fraud.
Leonard M. Weiner, Esq./Divorce Solutions