Asset Theft

SHOUT to all Legislators and Public at Large:

January 26, 2019, by Ron Ben-Ari - Managing Director Tessa International Asset Recovery Inc.

Recently, I had lunch with a friend who happens to be a high-ranking insurance company director. Well past our catching up on each other’s lives, we got to talk about Tessa International Asset Recovery Inc. and claiming lost assets. Mentioning to him that, among many other sources, we are going after unclaimed insurance policies, his mood suddenly changed and very matter-of-factly he informed me that their “competitive” pricing depends largely on clients not claiming their loved one’s Life Insurance policies as well as other types of claims! Perhaps naïve on my part, but I was actually surprised that they are really not interested in you, dear client, claiming what is rightfully yours! More so, they factor into their pricing that a certain percentage of policies remain unclaimed!

On another front: We received a call from a person in Mexico who told us that he just concluded a meeting with some clients who, in turn, told him that they have access to databases of bank accounts belonging to deceased people and that they have been withdrawing the funds from these accounts!! Now, let’s not write this off as something happening in a backwater-third-world country! We have witnessed this happening in the USA with various cases we have handled, whereby we had all the supporting documentation for assets while the financial institutions stubbornly negate the claims, not because we cannot solidly substantiate our claim, but hiding behind foolish laws allowing financial institutions to destroy all records after only 7 years, or asking us to prove that our clients did not cash out their assets!! It is clearly the institution´s responsibility to prove that the funds were indeed withdrawn, but they can´t!

The news have, over the years, exposed numerous cases of bank tellers and managers preying on accounts belonging to the elderly, ill, homeless, or deceased clients. It is important to maintain tight control over the assets of the vulnerable members of our society.

Some years back, the Swiss banks, pilar of trust, discretion and safety, were caught with their collective pants down for having pocketed all the monies entrusted to them by Holocaust victims prior to world war II. After years battling with the Swiss banks, they finally agreed to open their records and permit a 4-year claim period to recover monies entrusted to them. It was clear that the Swiss banks had no intentions of ever returning the funds until they were confronted with their deceitful activity.

It is past due for all legislators, world-wide, to truly protect the interests of their constituents, obliging all holders of lost assets to make a genuine effort to find the legitimate owners. In case they cannot be located, all assets should be transferred to their respective governments for safekeeping and exact records kept for each asset until it is restored to their owners or beneficiaries of the corresponding estate.

As for you, please don’t let this sort of thing ever happen to you! See our Blog 1 – “4 Simple Steps to Keep Track of Your Assets and Avoid Future Problems!” AND don’t postpone! Reclaim your assets as soon as possible! The longer assets lay around unclaimed, the more likely they are to be targeted.