How to find those hidden assets

News that Roman Abramovich is about to get divorced for the third time and is facing a hefty payout to his wife is a reminder that when either partner has wealth, the ‘other side’ will want to ensure they are admitting to all of it. Of course, there is no suggestion that the Chelsea owner would attempt to hide any assets – his second wife, with whom he is still on good terms, received a $300m settlement and his current wife, who has a career and is the daughter of a Russian oligarch, brought a great deal of money with her into the marriage – however, not every spouse is fair-minded.

The divorce is already being touted as the world’s most expensive, as Mr Abramovich’s assets are many and various. They include properties scattered across the globe, a £1bn luxury yacht, a £55m private jet, numerous expensive cars and, of course, Chelsea FC.

However, for couples where one of the spouses owns all of the assets, it could be tempting to keep some of them out of the spotlight. In that case, the partner who suspects non-disclouire should ensure that s/he take steps to uncover anything that might accidently be ‘left off’ the list. One of the best ways of doing that would be to engage a forensic accountant.

These experts have extensive experience in uncovering hidden assets or ‘undisclosed bank accounts and will comb through bank statements to find anomalies.  They will also look at tax returns, savings accounts and business transactions.

There are as many methods of uncovering hidden assets as there are of hiding them and forensic accountants have seen them all.

Author: Roger Isaacs, 29 August 2017

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