Strategies Used by The Super-Rich to Hide Their Wealth and Make it Judgement Proof
Back in the1970s and 1980s it was much easier to protect your assets. It was still possible to draw cash from your local bank account and take it to your private bank in Switzerland. There you’d deposit it in a numbered account. Whoever had the account number owned the account. It could have been a bank account owned by a company where the shares were owned by the bearer. This would offer a double dose of protection.
The most important part of this old style asset protection plan s that the paper trail was beoken when moving money from your local bank account to your offshore account.
Sadly numbered Swiss bank accounts and showing up in Zurich and Geneva with suitcases full of cash are a thing of the past. Nowadays we need to be more innovative about breaking the paper trail when moving money and assets overseas. But it is still possible.
Let’s look at 7 ways to protect your assets from lawsuits and divorce.
Send Invoices from Your Offshore Company
Set up an offshore company in a secure jurisdiction. Preferably one with strong asset protection laws like Nevis or The Cook Islands. The offshore company should not be owned by you. It can be owned by a trust or a foundation established in a different jurisdiction to the company. When you have your structure in place you can have it invoice you for services. Don’t have it invoice you for assets or any future investigator will want to know what happened to the asset. High value services such as consulting or programming will fit the bill.
Have Your Offshore Company Sue You – Use the Legal System to Your Advantage
If you think you’ll have difficulty substantiating high value invoices for hundreds of thousands of dollars from an offshore company have it sue you in your local court. This could be for a failed investment or business partnership. This could be for an extremely high amount as damages can be included too. Assuming you put up a weak defence and the offshore company wins the case you will be ordered by the court to send money to the offshore company. What better way than that to make your assets disappear by court order.
Crypto Currency Losses
The world of crypto currencies is still the wild west. It’s said that at least 10% of all crypto currencies in existence can’t be accessed because of lost passwords or lost wallets. It would be impossible for any investigator to prove that your wallet or password was not lost. You should focus on privacy friendly crypto currencies like Monero. With Bitcoin the blockchain is transparent and anyone will be able to see that your wallet has been accessed if the crypto is moved.
Gambling Losses
High rollers will often wire large amounts of money to casinos in advance of a trip.
Assuming you like to gamble in exotic locations it is possible to wire the money to a casino and withdraw the casino chips on your trip there. You don’t actually have to do any gambling. You can then cash in the chips and have the casino wire the funds back to a different account in a different jurisdiction. As far as any investigator knows you lost big at the tables.
Set up Your Own Charity
A strategy to protect your assets used by the super-rich is to establish a charity. We’ve all heard of the Gates Foundation and the Clinton Foundation but there are thousands of other charitable foundations controlled by the wealthy. They can be used for legal tax avoidance as well as to protect your assets. Once you’ve formed the charity, donate a large amount. That money is no longer legally yours and can’t be touched in any lawsuit or divorce. There are a number of follow on strategies from this to retain control of your money which is discussed in our Special Report – Bullett Proof Asset Protection.
Precious Metals
Precious Metals have long been one of the best ways to protect your assets from lawsuits and divorce. Discreetly buying some gold and silver every month and storing it in a secure location well away from your home and business will work well to protect your assets. Many gold dealers allow you to buy gold with crypto. This further blurs the trail for any investigator trying to find your assets. Never keep your gold in a bank though.
Investment Watches and Jewellery
Watches and Jewellery can be highly liquid, particularly big brands like Rolex and Patek Phillippe. You can buy jewellery with a high precious metal content which doesn’t cost much more than the metal itself. This can be an ideal way to protect your assets provided you don’t keep them at home or at your office.
These are just a few of the strategies that are used by the rich to protect your assets. It’s important to take action before it’s too late. Don’t wait until the lawsuit or divorce starts. Make a plan well in advance and transfer assets every month, preferably over a period of years. Make it as difficult as possible for any investigator to trace your assets by following the advice in this article.
Here at Liberty Mundo we help high net worth clients with tax minimization, opening offshore bank accounts, extreme asset protection strategies and second citizenships and residences. We can help you with a personalised plan to make you completely immune from any threats to your wealth. Get in touch with us here to set up a call to discuss your options and form the ultimate plan to protect your assets.
