This section covers transfer of monetary assets from a bank account in Switzerland into a Liechtenstein trust structure in 2016.
During the Divorce Proceedings, the Monetary Assets were transferred from Cotor’s UBS bank account to a Liechtenstein trust structure, as follows:
- Mr Kerman made contact with LGT Bank, a Liechtenstein private bank, in July 2016. On 1 August 2016 Mr Kerman wrote to LGT providing details of the Husband and his discretionary trust, setting out a proposal to open an account in the name of Cotor. Mr Kerman met with LGT the following day.
- Throughout November 2016, the Husband, Mr Kerman, UBS and LGT were in correspondence for the purpose of arranging the transfer of the assets held by Cotor at UBS in Switzerland to an account at LGT in Liechtenstein; In his oral evidence, Mr Kerman said that around US$650 million was transferred from Cotor’s account at UBS in Switzerland to Cotor’s account at LGT in Liechtenstein. The Husband also instructed UBS to transfer Avenger’s funds to Cotor’s UBS account and from there to Cotor’s LGT account. This was all done by 5 December 2016.
- However, the money quickly disappeared from Cotor’s account at LGT. On 3 January 2017, Tatiana obtained a freezing order in Liechtenstein against Cotor for £351,096,971. Yet on 19 January 2017 LGT informed the court in Liechtenstein that LGT did not hold any attachable assets on behalf of Cotor as at 4 January 2017.
Source: judgment of Mrs Justice Knowles dated 2 October 2019 at [17]
- It now appears, according to documents available to Tatiana, that the Monetary Assets were initially transferred to the Genus Trust. After Tatiana began proceedings in Liechtenstein, the monies were quickly moved into or through the Arbaj Trust and Longlaster Trust (and, from the Longlaster Trust, through the Ladybird Trust and Carnation Trust).
Source: judgment of Mrs Justice Knowles dated 14 August 2020 at [15]
- Specifically, the Liechtenstein Financial Intelligence Unit has issued reports which reportedly state that in autumn 2016 assets were transferred from Switzerland to LGT Bank. Funds were accumulated on the account of Genus Trust and transferred to its account with Bendura Bank. This is consistent with the oral evidence given by Mr Kerman in December 2016 that Cotor had transferred monetary assets from its UBS account in Switzerland to LGT in Liechtenstein.1
Source: judgment of Mrs Justice Knowles dated 17 October 2019 at [11](b)
In a judgment dated 21 February 2020 the Princely Regional Court of Vaduz in Liechtenstein observed that
“… the relocation of assets within a short period of time, as can be seen from the FIU reports and the relevant exhibits, supports the suspicion in this regard … that, from a legal aspect, these acts are in any case events to be classified and subsumed under the criminal act of fraudulent bankruptcy … or, at all events, as a punishable attempt to thwart enforcement…”.
Source: judgment of Mrs Justice Knowles dated 14 August 2020 at [15]