Judge A. Jay Christol of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida was not amused. He wrote in his judgment: “A bankruptcy discharge for this type of debtor should be as rare as the dodo bird which once graced the shores of Mauritius.” In the court’s opinion, no one would give away the bulk of his assets to a stranger in a foreign country. In September 1999, Christol found Lawrence in contempt and ordered him to repatriate his assets and settle the bankruptcy. In the meantime, Lawrence was racking up $10,000 a day in court-imposed contempt charges. When Lawrence failed to show up for his next court date, Christol lost patience and ordered him held in civil contempt.
As Worth went to press, Lawrence sits in a Miami jail cell. He continues to appeal the judge’s order, and is trying to have his case designated a criminal matter in the hope that this will limit his time in jail.
you can run . . .
This is the new face of offshore asset protection. Leveraging powers it has garnered over the past two decades, the U.S. government is working with other nations and banks around the world to sharply limit the ability of its citizens to shelter assets anonymously offshore. While legal options for depositing assets in foreign countries still offer some protection from an aggressive plaintiff’s attorneys and relentless ex-spouses (see “Safe Harbors,” page 68), the IRS requires that U.S. citizens report these transactions thoroughly. “Because of the Patriot Act, it seems that most wealthy clients are bringing their money back to the U.S. because of the onerous reporting requirements,” says Jay Adkisson, a lawyer and coauthor of Asset Protection, a guide to legal offshore strategies. “Indeed, I have many wealthy clients and only a scant few have any significant assets offshore. To the extent that they had offshore accounts, most have since closed their accounts and now just keep their money in the United States.”
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