USJC’s mission is to level the field and bring Justice to those who victimize others as well as pursuing any means possible to facilitate financial recovery for those who have been duped by fraudulent operators.
We utilize an array of mechanisms to investigate, track and recover liquid assets, some conventional and others not so much. We have assembled a network of “3rd party” overt and covert financial intelligence sources to assist and facilitate with “discovery”.
Financial investigations and tracing laundered assets can be expensive, complicated and cumbersome. There are numerous legal impediments that require a certain skill set and access to unique resources. One cannot count on the ‘authorities’ to make them whole. The criminal justice system is designed to render punishment not affect the recovery of stolen assets.
The process of a recovery in financial fraud matters such as money laundering, “Ponzi” and investment schemes have many facets that are often complex. This includes Cross-border asset tracing, and the recovery of bank account assets in remote “offshore” jurisdictions.
It is common fraud cases that monies are wired by the victim to a specific “domestic” account, which is generally referred to as a “Land” or “Launch” account. The money is then moved offshore to accounts in countries such as the Isle of Man, Guatemala, Singapore, Mauritius, Panama, the Cayman Islands etc… Recovery from these types of jurisdictions can often be challenging and expensive.
These types of recovery projects require the skills and experience of a very specialized investigative/recovery team of professionals. Your typical investigator or legal practitioner is generally not experienced in navigating this process.
The key foundations to affect a successful recovery effort are:
- It’s not always best to rush to obtain civil judgments – they are often ineffective across international borders unless structured properly and they cause the evidence subject to third party discovery (public information). The monies can be moved and you lose your edge.
- Identify jurisdictions involved (where the money ends up) or targets-financial accounts
- Identify and gather the evidence needed to move on the financial targets
- Reverse engineer the intelligence-path of laundered assets
- Determine if the host countries are “friendly” to cross border recovery and UNCITRAL Model Law enacted in 1999 and “MLAT’s”.
- Seek “Discovery” under USC Title 28-Section 1782(a) to trace cross-border banking transactions
- Seek and Execute “Anton Piller” and “Norwich Pharmacal” orders-when appropriate
- Utilize “Freeze Orders” and “Mareva Injunctions” as a tool to recover the illicit assets
It is important to note that perpetrators of fraud may have ties to organized crime and/or very sophisticated money laundering agents, often professional ‘legal practitioners’. In these types of cases the investigators and special counsel must often operate “Ex-parte” and ‘in the blind’ regarding identities in order to maintain the integrity of the investigation as well as security of the agents and sources involved. Intelligence and confidentiality is paramount, should key information fall outside of the investigative “network” bad-guys will take evasive action or file frivolous litigation in order ‘frustrate’ the matter and shield themselves, thereby nullifying efforts and adding to the cost and viability of the recovery. These matters are incredibly fluid and require tenacity, due diligence and strategic planning.
