Invisible Money, Hidden Assets, Secret Banking JJ Luna
© 2013 Editorial de la Islas LC. Calle/Benito Perez Armas 12, 35500 Arrecife de Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain. All Rights Reserved worldwide under the Berne Convention. This document may not be copied or distributed without prior written permission. Canary Islands Press makes no representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
CONTENTS
1. Cash vs. Credit Cards vs. Bank Accounts 2. Hiding Money and Assets in Your Home 3. Invisible Money When You Travel 4. Open a Secret U.S. Bank Account 5. Open an Invisible Bank Account in Canada 6. A Time to Keep Quiet 7. Choose Your Level and Set a Date
Chapter 1 Cash vs. Credit Cards vs. Bank Accounts Ah, take the Cash, and let the Credit go, Nor heed the rumble of a distant Drum! —The Rubaiyat, by Omar Khayyam
The information you are about to read is not mere theory. It is based upon my own personal experiences over a long lifetime—especially in Spain, where I sometimes handled multiple shopping bags and briefcases stuffed with 1000-peseta bills. Within the pages of this book I will teach you how to brace yourself against robberies, burglaries, scheming family members, frivolous lawsuits, unscrupulous creditors, crooked PIs, overzealous cops, or a sneak-and-peek by the F.B.I. Nothing that follows is to be construed as tax advice in the U.S. I pay my taxes and I urge you to pay yours—it’s not worth the risk to try and beat the IRS or Revenue Canada. Most of the advice in this book will be geared to the personal aspects of your financial life. It can be difficult to remain invisible if you a high profile businessperson. However, in terms of your private life, the key to remaining invisible is to become best friends with cash. On my website, which has been live since 2000, I have given two pieces of advice which I urge you to follow. One: Avoid borrowing money for personal reasons (such as to buy a home or a car). Two: Pay cash whenever you can. Let’s take a look at this one in more depth Four Advantages of Making Routine Purchases with Cash 1. Temptation Avoidance. You’ll not make impulse purchases that you cannot afford. (It is much more difficult to make an “impulse” buy if you have to take cash out of your pocket to pay for it..) 2. No monthly payments on loans, no credit card interest, and no overdraft fees from your bank. 3. Lower prices. You’d be surprised at how much you can save by asking for a discount in return for paying with cash. For example, the next time a selfemployed mechanic, plumber or electrician quotes you a price of, say, $1,200 plus sales tax, make a counter offer of $1,000 cash. More often than not, you’ll get that discount. 4. Protection against identity theft. Obviously, if you don’t use a credit or debit card, you won’t be asked for a driver’s license that may (horror of horrors!) display your home address.
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Five Reasons to Keep Major Amounts of Cash on Hand 1. When the banks in your area eventually shut down due to a power outage, terrorist attack, catastrophic computer malfunction or any other reason, you’ll be like the one-eyed man or woman in the kingdom of the blind. 2. Cash is king. If you spot the used car of your dreams at night or on a weekend, you’ll be able to beat out any other prospective buyers by offering cash on the spot. 3. Should you be caught far from home when all airports shut down (as they did on 9/11), rent-a-car agencies will run out of vehicles in a flash. But with cash you can pay a taxi driver whatever it takes to get to your destination, or even buy a used car and get there on your own. 4. If your ex- or current live-in lover turns against you (yes, Virginia, this has been known to happen), he or she won’t be able to go after your cash when there is no clue that it exists. 5. Suppose you get a heads-up call from a friend at two o’clock in the morning, telling you that someone is out to get you. Time to get outta Dodge! You grab your passport, all the cash you’ll need, laptop, cell phone, and hit the road! (Don’t forget to either remove the cell phone’s battery, or else wrap it in aluminum foil that so it cannot be pinged. (You’re just bringing it so someone else can’t get their hands on it. You’ll buy a disposable one, if you need it, along the way.) The Key to Success When Hiding Cash is to KEEP IT QUIET! If you’ve already read my book How to be Invisible, you’ll know what caused the downfall of Stanley Rifkin. If not, the key point was that he secretly had $10.2 million transferred from a bank in Los Angeles to an overseas bank account and no one, absolutely no one knew about this—not even the bank it was taken from. Sadly for Rifkin, be was unable to keep this information to himself. He blabbed about the theft to at least several persons and one of them sent an anonymous tip to the FBI. The result was that Rifkin’s $10.2 million bought him a long stay, full pension, at a hotel with iron curtains. Invisible Assets When I talk about hiding money, it goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) that this applies equally to items such as stock certificates, loan documents, bonds, jewelry, pictures of former lovers, handguns, Canadian bank statements, silver rounds, valuable stamps, diamonds, Krugerrands, Maple Leafs, American Eagles, Lunar Rabbits, Panda Gold, or any other precious metals. Attention All Burglars In times past, I did indeed keep large amounts of cash at home. However, with the release of the first edition of Invisible Money, I had to limit some of my most secret ways of hiding money. Although not many people know where I live, some do. For that reason I now keep all cash elsewhere. There is no reason any longer for a burglar to target my home because I I now keep all cash elsewhere. In addition, I’d added to my home: 2
Alarm devices; Booby traps; Closed-circuit television; An actual train horn so loud that it can raise the dead!
As long as you can maintain silence—keep some major cash on hand for a coming emergency. Now that you know why you should keep some cash at home, you’re ready to learn how to hide it. But first, a few questions and answers for the unconvinced. Questions and Answers
I just discovered my wife is having an affair with a lawyer who specializes in divorces! (She doesn’t know I know this.) I’m about to sell my Catalina sailboat for $95,000 but dare I ask the buyer to pay me in cash? Asking for payment in cash might raise a red flag, so take the middle ground and request payment in the form of a cashier’s check. Many cashier's checks have an expiration date, typically 90 days after the date of issue, but they don't truly expire at that point in time. Check with the issuing bank to make sure, but you can normally cash a cashier’s check for up to three years. Now all you have to do is make sure those divorce papers get signed before the three years are up. I like to party and frequently date. When my dates come to my house to meet me, I sometimes leave them in the living room while I finish powdering my nose. What if they start looking around? What do you mean, “if?” Some will look around! Under no circumstances should you leave your purse, address book, calendar, cell phone, tablet, or laptop lying around when anyone is in your house who you don’t know really well. Even relatives snoop. If you want to keep your private matters private, lock them up. You’ve been warned!.
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Chapter 2 Hiding Money and Assets in Your Home “The best way of keeping a secret is to pretend there isn't one.” ―Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin
THERE IS NO SUCH THING as a burglar-proof home, nor is there a security system that cannot be bypassed. However, the average burglar remains inside a house for less than ten minutes. Your goal will be to prevent your cash from being found during that period of time . Burglars will almost invariably head straight for the master bedroom, so I suggest you keep a small amount of cash there, perhaps hidden beneath some underclothes in the bottom of a chest of drawers. Leave enough to make the intruder think that he’s already found whatever cash you keep in the house. Burglars aside, your goal should be to hide money from anyone who might be after it—whether these be relatives, guests, repairmen, babysitters, a kleptomaniac parent, a teen son or daughter addicted to drugs, or a spouse who likes to exercise iron control over every dollar you spend. Can Safes Can safes are a great place to hide money from thieves. Here are a few of the many types of diversion safes (as they are called) for sale on the internet. Any can be stored below a sink or hidden in a cupboard, pantry, garage, basement, or work shop. Be creative here. Order at least three different types and use them liberally.
Here are some suggestions for commercial can safes that a woman might use: • • •
In the pantry: Yuban coffee. Heinz Baked Beans. Under the sink: Bon Ami. Ajax. In the laundry room: VP Spray Starch. Scotch Guard. Pledge.
In addition to these, men in particular might use something normally found in the garage, such as STP Oil Treatment or JB Radiator Stop-Leak. If there is no garage, the cans might be kept in a box that contains his tools and supplies. Alternates to Can Safes
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If you have a tightly-packed file cabinet, stash your cash in one or more of its folders. Title the folders with dull names such as “old tax receipts” or “travel brochures.” If you have a lot of books, use a box cutter or a single-edge razor blade to cut the center out of some dull book you no longer want. Mix these books in with others in your bookcase or store them in a box kept out in the garage. Keep smaller amounts of money scattered among the pages of a heavy and uninteresting book. Here’s an interesting application of the principle in action provided by “Ellen” who is 88 years old. “I have a grandson who used to come and visit me in my apartment sometimes, but I couldn’t trust him because he’d once stolen some money from me. I had a very old Bible, one of those big ones that take up half a coffee table. I knew my grandson would never open a Bible so I hid a dozen $100 bills in the pages of Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. One night some crazy old coot in the building fell asleep while smoking and the whole building caught fire. By the time the fire was put out, everything was damaged by fire or water. My old Bible was scorched around the edges and waterlogged, but my money was still okay!” Another great way to protect your cash is to open a bag of frozen vegetables. Stuff the empty container with rolled-up bills, glue the opening shut, and put it in the bottom of your freezer. (Just don’t forget what’s in there!) Fire-resistant Gun Safes Really large amounts of cash can be stored in a gun safe. There are plenty of used gun safes advertised on Craigslist and some of them weigh up to 1500 pounds. When I lived in Nevada, I kept one of those in a corner of my basement and stacked boxes all around it. If we brought someone into our basement for whatever reason, they’d have no clue as to what lay behind those boxes. Underground Storage Another way to keep cash from being stolen or burned in a fire is to keep it outside of your home and in the ground. In the picture that follows, the cap on the right is a normal opening for a storm water drain. The one at the left is a fake pipe, capped six feet down. At the bottom of that fake pipe is a metal cylinder that is eight inches tall.
To access the cash inside the cylinder, you merely lower a powerful magnet on a chain and pull the cylinder up. Such a system will resist fire, tornadoes, and even an earthquake. 5
Anywhere Will Do. Hide some money inside window shades, water hoses, fuse boxes, fire-alarm bells, dog houses, abandoned plumbing fixtures, ironing board covers, plastic rolling pins, wall clocks, paper towel tubes, prescription bottles, clothes hampers, kitchen containers, wall phones, upholstery, golf bags, toys, stuffed animals, board game boxes, baby carriages, boxes of Christmas decorations, trophies, or even in hollowed-out stairway posts. Prepare in Advance for a Lethal Accident If you are married, you may feel confident that if one of you dies, the other will be able to find any money you have hidden. However, couples—and sometimes complete families—are being killed each day on the nation’s highways, so do keep a list of all your hiding places. Mail this list to the executor of your family trust, indicating the various locations of hidden cash. There is no need to mention the actual amount of cash in each holder. Even better, you can keep this list, sealed in an envelope, with your will and other legal documents on file at your attorney’s office. Questions and Answers I’m single, move frequently because of my work, and often rent a furnished studio apartment on a monthly basis. I park my car in the street so I don’t want to leave any cash there, and I eat out so no chance of hiding a can safe in a pantry. What might work best for me? Hide the money behind the refrigerator. (If you have someone come in to clean, just make sure they do not pull the fridge out to dust the coils!) My dad bought an old car a year ago. . He was going to restore it but hasn’t done much with it. Should I hide some money in his car, and if so, where? (I don’t want him to find it.) Assuming the engine does not run, roll your money up and stick it in a small tube that will fit back into the level part of the exhaust pipe. Attach an iron washer on the end of it. Then, when you want to get to your cash, you can use a small round magnet at the end of a stick to pull the tube out. (Keep in touch with your dad and ask him from time to time if he ever expects to get the motor running!) I’m a happily married young woman but my husband is careless with money. What do you think about me stashing some away every week? Let me tell you a true story. One day in the fall of 1968, my family suffered an absolutely unforeseeable financial calamity. When my wife realized I was at my wit’s end and didn’t know what to do, she revealed that she had been setting aside a little money each week, for the past seven or eight years. I forget how much she had stashed away but she brought out two sanitary-napkin boxes. The cash she’d stuffed inside saved our souls! 6
When and why might an intruder spend more than ten minutes inside my home? There are two kinds of burglars: amateurs and professionals (pros). The pros usually target the homes of the rich and the famous—especially women who are known to have expensive jewelry. These pros will go to great lengths to make sure to enter only when the home is going to be vacant for several hours or more. Unless you drive a late-model top-of-the-line vehicle and/or live in an ostentation manner, your main danger will not be from the pros. It will be from someone whose goal is just to get in and out, fast. There are, however, two exceptions. 1. Does the FBI have any reason to suspect you? If so, they may get a “Sneak and Peek” warrant. They’ll then enter your home while you are at work or otherwise away for some reason, and do a complete search. (Worst-case scenario: The FBI will plant a “Magic Lantern” on your computer, which will create a record of your every keystroke! This is why you want to keep online banking and credit card purchases to a dead minimum.) 2. The second exception is if you are a relative or friend of a person being stalked. If the stalker’s victim moves, and the stalker cannot find out where his target is hiding, he may break into your home and search through your address book or any notes near your telephones. Fortunately, both of these exceptions are rare.
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Chapter 3 Invisible Money When You Travel One who lives well, lives unnoticed. —Ovid
Pay cash whenever possible. (You’ll need to keep a credit card in reserve, of course, for car rentals, hotels stays, and Internet purchases.). You’ll be far safer from identity theft when you pay cash in restaurants, when you shop, and when you fill up the gas tank. As long as you never advertise the fact you are carrying some serious money, you’ll be in no greater danger than if you were carrying just a couple of dollars and change. Invisible Pockets on Your Person As a youth, when I hitchhiked home from college, I carried a few one-dollar bills in my pocket and a $20 bill in my shoe. Later, however, I began to carry larger bills in a money belt. For men, any normal money belt—the kind with a zipper on the inside—will do. If you are good with a needle and thread, stitch some pockets about midway up the inside of pants or jeans legs. Pockets can also be sewn into the armpit area of a shirt or jacket , or the inside back of a coat. Women might sew money-hiding pockets inside their bras, or they can order one of those special panties shown here. Split your money up Keep a reasonable amount of cash in your wallet, purse or pocket, so as to always have some give-it-up cash available for the bad guys. Note: I say “guys” because the vast majority of muggers, robbers and thieves are males between the ages of 15 and 34. (The sole exception is that women make up about half of those in the pickpocket profession.) Here’s an interesting idea of an alternative to hidden pockets, from travel writer Evelyn Hannon, who is also the editor of Journeywoman: “In my backpack, I carry a plain school notebook that I've clearly labeled, My Travel Notes. This notebook gets quite dog-eared as I travel and that is a deliberate tactic on my part. I don't want anybody to think it has any value. So that I will never be without money, I tape five $10.00 bills and an extra credit card to the inside cover of this notebook. Over it, I staple a copy of my itinerary, which protects and hides this stash completely. Nobody ever suspects that there is money there and I sleep easier knowing that I always have a cash backup in case of foul play.” INVISIBLE MONEY IN YOUR HOTEL ROOM
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If you can cope with the weight, travel with hard luggage, the kind with hinges and combination locks rather than zippers. (Zipper cases can be opened without touching the padlock.) The Samsonite case I usually carry (pictured below) dates back to the early 1990s, but since I never check it, it still serves me well.
First, I snap down the two heavy-duty latches. Then I slide an additional lock to the right, after which I twirl the combinations. If a hotel room does not have a safe, both my laptop and a can safe with cash (foot powder container) go inside the Samsonite when I leave the room. Otherwise, when traveling light and carrying enough cash to buy a good used car, I’ve been known to hide the money in a black envelope and place it on the top of a tall cabinet or behind the flat screen TV. If I go out, I first check with housekeeping to make sure the room is not to be made up that day. I also leave the TV on, and a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door. So far, never a problem. INVISIBLE MONEY IN YOUR CAR I keep some easy-to-find money in the center console, enough to buy a tank of gas and a decent meal. An additional hundred is tucked away in the glove box in what appears to be a junk-mail envelope (taken from the trash basket in any post office). The balance—if I am out to make a major purchase—is carried in two can safes in the trunk. One is a scratched-up JB Engine Degreaser can and the other is a dented can of Puncture Seal. Both are wrapped in an oily rag and mixed in with a few tools and a six-cell Maglite flashlight Incidentally, you can stuff two such cans with up to $25,000 in $100 bills, or up to 125,000 euros in 500-euro bills! WARNING—ONE PROBLEM TO CONSIDER Sadly, unusually large amounts of money must be hidden well in case you are ever stopped by a traffic cop, a deputy, a trooper from the State Patrol, or a deputy from the Sheriff’s office. This is because some law enforcement agents maliciously assume that any large sum of money must have come from drug dealing. They will therefore take it away and will not give it back unless ordered to do so by a court. Danger from a Deputy Sheriff
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On September 27, 2006, two men were traveling south on Interstate 85 when they were pulled over for following another vehicle too closely. Deputies from the Davidson County Sheriff's Office searched the car (a search that may or may not have been legal) and discovered $88,000 in cash. Although the men assured the deputies that the money was legally theirs and was to be used to purchase a house in Atlanta, the officers did not believe their story. No drugs were found. The two men were therefore not charged with any crime but the Sheriff’s office kept the money. Federal investigators arrived and confiscated the cash in order to make a case in federal court that the money would fall under federal forfeiture laws. I have been unable to learn how this case was finally settled, but even assuming they got the money back a year or two later, lawyers’ fees would have taken much of it. Danger from a State Patrol Trooper On May 28, 2003, Nebraska State Patrol Trooper Chris Bigsby signaled Emiliano Gomez to pull over his rented Ford Taurus on Interstate 80. The trooper was questioning the frightened Gomez—who had a difficult time understanding English—when a second officer, Jason Brownell, pulled up and joined in. Brownell, who spoke some Spanish, asked for and received consent to search the car. Trooper Bigsby went directly to the rear passenger side of the vehicle and opened a cooler that was in the back seat, where he found a total of $124,700 in currency. He immediately confiscated it. A trained drugsniffing dog was brought and barked at the rental car and at the cash. Although no drugs were found, the police decided that the dog’s behavior was enough evidence to justify keeping the money. When this case went to court, associates of Gomez testified that they had pooled their life savings to purchase a refrigerated truck to start a produce business. Gomez had flown on a one-way ticket to Chicago to buy the truck, but it had sold by the time he arrived. For that reason he was returning home in a rented car, cash still in hand. There was no evidence disputing Gomez’s story. As a matter of fact, Gomez’s story rings particularly true for me because I happen to interact with hard-working Mexicans on a daily basis. Three truths come to mind here: One, my Mexican neighbors are quite adept at saving for a goal. Two, they often have no bank account in which to deposit their savings, so they keep them in cash. Three, it’s a common practice among Mexicans to pool their savings with friends or partners in order to get enough cash together to purchase a house, a car or a truck. On August 18, 2006, a mind-bogging decision was handed down by United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The name of this case was not “United States of America v. Emiliano Gomez.” Rather, it was “United States of America v. $124,700 in U.S. Currency, 05-3295.” Apparently, the money itself was on trial and after due process, it was kept, despite the fact that Gomez himself was never accused, much less convicted, of any crime whatsoever! Watch out for This Question When stopped for whatever reason, you will be asked for your license, registration, and proof of insurance. Later (whether you received a ticket or not), when it appears the officer is about to leave, he may suddenly say, “Would you mind if I ask you a few more questions?” The correct answer is, “With all due respect, officer, I consider myself to be a very private person. I never answer questions unless compelled to do so by law. Am I free to leave?” 10
The reason I suggest you never agree to more questions is because the next question may be, “Are there any guns, drugs, explosives, or large amounts on money anywhere in this vehicle?” If that question makes you nervous, the officer may come up with another question: “Are there any secret compartments in this vehicle?” Little-known fact: In many states, it is a felony to “be in possession of a false compartment in a vehicle for the purpose of transporting controlled substances for commercial purposes,” even though nothing is in the secret compartment at the time, and its actual purpose is unknown. So then, never construct a false compartment in any of your vehicles. (Can safes, locked briefcases, and luggage are not illegal because they are not an integral part of the vehicle.) In any event, do not carry more money in your car than you can afford to lose. True, I myself sometimes carry up to $25,000 if I’m going to buy a vehicle or travel railer for cash, but I observe these precautions: 1. Before leaving, I do a walk-around to make sure all lights are working and tags are current. The vehicle will be an older non-descript Toyota or Honda. 2. If possible, I leave before dawn, when traffic is light. 3. I drive at or just a few miles above the speed limit. 4. I make sure not to weave toward one side of the lane or the other. 5. I never, never follow another vehicle too close, since this is a common cause for being pulled over. Crossing an Iinternational Border As long as you keep the value under the equivalent of US $10,000, there should be no problem. When I fly to Europe I usually take about 3,000 euros, always on my person. That way, in case of some emergency (such as all planes being grounded due to a volcano erupting in Iceland), I have enough cash to continue my trip by bribing my way onto a bus, ship, train or private vehicle. Questions and Answers I travel first class, internationally, and often carry $40,000 or more with me in airline tickets. So far no problem but is this legal? This is a question I have not dared ask the IRS because I prefer not to arouse their suspicions. (Full disclaimer: I’ve carried a few of those tickets myself since—as you correctly say—they can be redeemed for cash. I travel in and out of a third-world country and have had clothing stolen from my hotel room. Where’s the best place to hide just a few hundreddollar bills? If you’re man, sew the bills inside an old necktie. (What thief or maid would steal that?) If a woman, inside a padded bra.
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I travel inside the U.S. on a continual basis, and would like to keep a $3,000 emergency fund with me at all times. However, if it was in cash, I’d be worried all the time. I don’t want to use ATMs either, so what do you suggest? Buy blank U.S. Postal Money Orders and fill in your own name before you leave. (Keep photocopies in case any are ever lost or stolen.) You can get them in denominations up to $1,000 but when it’s time to cash one, smaller post offices sometimes do not have that much in hand. I suggest you get five at $500 each and two at $250. Spread the purchases out and never buy more than a total of $1,000 in a single day. Also, never attempt to cash more than $1,000 at a single post office, or you may be asked for ID. Do you recommend dressing well when you travel? Under normal circumstances, yes. (On a recent trip to Los Angeles, my wife was complimented by a security guard who told her it was getting more and more rare to see someone dress well on a trip.) However, if you are carrying a heavy amount of cash, dress modestly to avoid undue attention from thieves. I cross the Canadian border almost every day. Where can a secret a few Canadian and American hundred-dollars bills as an emergency fund? I’ve never been pulled aside but who knows about tomorrow? Open your sun visor seams. Take out a bit of padding, Put Canarian dollars in one and American dollars in the other. Close the seams again. (Don’t forget about this when you later trade or sell your car!) Is it okay to buy a plane ticket at the airport for cash? No, unless you are not carrying a large amount of cash, and don’t mind being pulled aside when you go through security.
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Chapter 4 Open a Secret U.S. Bank Account A simple fact that is hard to learn is that the time to save money is when you have some. - Joe Moore
If you are fleeing a stalker, or if you fear a three-letter government agency may be after you, close all your U.S. accounts immediately. Do not open any more in your own name. (If a bank account is for some reason desperately needed, try to find a friend who will open an account for you in his or her own name, and let you control it.) The information that follows assumes you merely wish to avoid having some law firm that may hire a PI to see if you have “deep pockets” and are therefore worth suing. Which—if any—Account(s) Should You Keep? If you currently have an account with one of the big boys such as Wells Fargo or Bank of America, and/or a money market account or an account with a credit union, keep it for these reasons: 1. You may have opened the account long ago, when requirements were not as strict. For example, some of the older accounts are in merely a first and last name. This is in contrast to current regulations which require every signer’s complete name as shown on their passport and driver’s license. 2. This may be the brokerage or bank that originally issued you your credit card, and you will need the credit card when you travel. What you do not need, however, is a large balance in that account. Keep it low enough so as not to attract attention. Make sure that they do not have your home telephone number or your true home address. If your bank does have that information, you should change it. You can always explain that you’ve moved or are about to move. Give them an alternate or “ghost” address (as outlined in How To Be Invisible) and a pager number or a prepaid cell phone number that is not registered with your correct address. HOW TO OPEN A LOW-PROFILE BANK ACCOUNT First, the account must be in a state that is at least several states away from where you live. Second, it must be in a small bank with no branches in any other state. Do not give the bank your true address or home telephone number. (Many of my clients use a ghost address in Alaska.) Although this is probably overkill, I prefer never to use a card from such a bank for withdrawing cash at an ATM. The main reason is that I recently discovered, in the fine print at a local bank, that they reserve the right to report all ATM withdrawals to the credit agencies. To be fair, I have not been able to confirm that this is actually done. I asked a friend, who owns a collection agency in Sacramento and is a licensed PI, what she thought about this. Her answer: 13
“That doesn't make sense. Why would ATM transactions be reported? Credit reports have credit cards but not checking accounts and nothing posted about ATM transactions or savings accounts.... If a bank claims ATM transactions are reported to a credit reporting agency, well, they are like the insurance industry and have their own (internal) database as well.” It appears, therefore, that there might be little danger in withdrawing cash at ATMs. However, I strongly suggest you never use a debit or a credit card from such a bank to pay for any service or product, and never write a check on such an account unless it is to a close and trusted friend. Here’s a tip from an instructor who teaches in a school for private investigators: “I have found many bank accounts by looking at the public Civil Records at the county level. This doesn't involve contacting the financial institution at all, nor does the size of the bank matter. The account can even be in a faraway state and here’s why: If the Subject has been involved in a court case in which they have written a check and it is copied and added to the file as evidence, I’ve got 'em!” Summary of the Advantage in Keeping a Low-Profile Account in a Faraway State Suppose that someone, someday, decides to sue you—perhaps for some completely frivolous matter. (Remember, in this land of the free, anyone can sue anyone.) The law firm will first hire a private investigator to search for your assets. If at least $25,000 can be found, the firm will make some money because it will be cheaper for you to pay up rather than do battle in court. To get this information, a private investigator will be hired and authorized to spend up to $1,500 for a quick search. The PI’s first step will be to check with the credit-reporting agencies, because that alone may bring up all the information he needs. However, if you only have a modest account in your local bank, that is all he will find, at first. Next, the investigator will check for a brokerage account because these can be searched nationwide. Also, the PI will look for any bank account that you may have in any part of your state—let’s assume it is California, (Bank searches are state by state.) No result? He will then search the main banks in the bordering states: Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona. If no result, he will go back to the law firm. Are they willing to pay thousands of dollars more for a search of all 50 states and the District of Columbia? (Canada is not mentioned because PIs almost never search Canada. In addition, to conduct a search for Canadian bank account, the Canadian national insurance number is needed, which of course Americans do not have.) As you can see, a national search would be too expensive and, even if performed, might produce no results because small banks are often overlooked. The law firm will call it quits. How to Find a Small State Bank Go to http://www.montanabankers.com/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=24. Would you believe that there are 58 different small banks in Montana, two of which do not even list a website? Or, if you already have a certain small town in mind, go to http://www.bankingdetail.com/search.asp?type=bc and enter the state and then the 14
county or town. A list of all banks in that area will come up and you can then check them out, one by one. How to Open an Account Thanks (?) to the Patriot Act, you will have to show up in person. The bank will require two forms of ID, usually a passport and a driver’s license. Further, you will need to provide an explanation about why you’ve chosen this particular bank when your driver’s license shows you live many states away. As an example, let’s say you live in Texas but wish to open an account in the Summit Bank in the tiny village of Concrete, Washington. You might say: • • • •
“I travel in this area on business and I prefer the attention given by a smaller bank.” “We have friends in the area and we often come up to camp and fish along the river.” “We are planning to retire to this area in the next year or so, and we’d like to get started now with a local bank account.” “With the low prices in this current recession, I’m looking to invest in a few riverfront properties between here and the North Cascades and I always prefer to do business with a local bank.”
How to Fund the New Account If you decide to open the bank account with a small deposit—let’s say $500—no eyebrows will be raised if you open it with cash. However, for major deposits, use bank cashier’s checks from one of your other accounts. To make sure this advice was sound, I sent a question to a friendly private investigator. Here is my question and his answer: “Suppose I open a new bank account in a faraway state and I fund it with a bank cashier’s check from my local account here. I know that a sharp PI could track down this local account, but could he also discover that I had purchased a bank cashier’s check that was later deposited in the new bank account?” “For a PI to do this surreptitiously would be difficult—but possible. Once a legal reason is established, the PI can easily get everything. But if he's just rooting around in the system, he's breaking the law and would have to have a psychological problem that allowed him to stay calm as he lied and hacked his way through the bank records.” BEWARE OF THE “SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY REPORT” A Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) must be filed with the appropriate federal law enforcement agencies of any transaction of $5,000 or more is deemed to be suspicious. This includes deposits, withdrawals, transfers, loans, or even the purchase of a CD. What is meant by “suspicious?” Suspicious Motive: 15
This could be anything that seems abnormal to the clerk. An example would a change from your usual pattern, one that you do not explain or that the clerk does not understand. Another might be a question you ask, such as how much cash you can deposit or withdraw without having to fill out a report. (Never ask!) Suspicious Behavior: Suspicious behavior includes, but is not limited to: stuttering, speaking rapidly, hesitating, covering your mouth, fidgeting, or failing to make eye contact. It also includes being overly friendly, so be polite but professional. What if you are told that you must file a Currency Transaction Report (CTR)? For any cash deposit or withdrawal over $10,000, you will be required to fill out Form 4789 (Currency Transaction Report). Most us of manage to avoid making any transaction that calls for a CTR, but if the occasion does warrant it, I see no great danger in filing one. Untold millions of these forms are filed annually. I doubt that many are ever checked out unless you are already in trouble because of a questionable tax return or a possible fraud. KEEPING RECORDS Those of you who feel compelled to keep all your records in an accounting program such as Quicken or QuickBooks should at least keep them on a laptop computer that is not connected with the Internet. Also, remember that in addition to being one of the first things to be picked up during a police search, hundreds of thousands of laptops are stolen each year. They are pilfered from homes, cars, offices, hotel rooms, and even from trays at airport security check points. Every time you set your laptop down, whether at a Starbucks o or in a public restroom, you are in danger of having your laptop stolen—and with it, all your secrets. For that reason I keep all my bank records in a laptop that is never connected to the Internet and that never leaves my home office. When I am away on a trip, the laptop goes into a secret panel in different level of our home. I defy even the FBI to find it without tearing the walls apart… and the walls are made of concrete. Questions and Answers Should new account in a faraway bank be non-interest bearing? If so, why? Suppose a California couple breaks up and a divorce is pending. The husband hopes his South Dakota interest-bearing bank account will not come to light. However, the wife shows her lawyer a copy of their last tax return. It includes interest from a bank in South Dakota. Guess what will happen next. Is postal mail is the best way to communicate with my faraway bank, or should I just call them? 16
MAIL: Let’s say you live in Texas, bank in New Hampshire, and the NH bank has only an address in Montana for you. If your letters are always postmarked from Texas, someone at the bank may begin to question your Montana address. TELEPHONE: Suppose your mate, partner, a PI, or an IRS investigator decides to check you out? They will get a copy of your telephone records and check the numbers. One of the numbers is to a bank in New Hampshire. Bingo! THREE SOLUTIONS: Call the bank only from a phone nt your own and use call blocking to hide your area code. Write letters that are remained from Montana. Best, however, is my recommendation to use an anonymous email account. Is it okay to bank online with one of those low-profile accounts? Very likely, your bank will encourage you to keep your records online. However, computer criminals are becoming increasingly proficient at writing Trojan horse programs and keyloggers that steal passwords and account information. Personally, I do not bank online. The thieves are getting smarter, and website backups and email records are kept for years and years. Mistakes are made. Things happen. So no, I do not recommend it. In there any way to get cash out of the account without using an ATM card? Write a check to a friend and have him or her cash it and give you the money. Why can’t I just open a local bank account in the name of a trust or an LLC? There are times when—for business reasons— it may be a great idea to open such an account, but this will not protect your person privacy. The bank will still require your Social Security number. This is what one of my PI readers recently told me: “If you give your SSN to the bank, for any reason, I'm very likely to find the account. Tell me the subject's name, SSN, and the city where you suspect he's banking—I'm able to find all accounts associated. Even if he's just a signer. “In the last year I found a personal checking account and all details surrounding it and the fact the Subject was a signer on a business account. We had not known he was associated with a business prior to this find. Details after that fact were difficult to obtain, but I got the other signers' names, the fact that it was a business account, the balance, and the last date a transaction took place. “If the client had wanted more detail, they'd have paid for me to search the other signers as known associates. I would have found their SSNs, and run a background check and a bank search on them—finding the business account details. The details would include the name of the business and the EIN. (Some steps are skipped in this explanation, including database research, telephone calls, and other investigative techniques.) 17
“Holding an account with an LLC—even a New Mexico LLC—will not keep the Subject invisible from law enforcement or a competent PI who has been given other clues that the Subject is this savvy.” If a creditor gets a judgment against me, will they be able to track down my low-profile account in a faraway state? When you are presented with an Application and Order for Appearance (ORAP), you will be required to appear in court and testify under oath as about all your assets. In connection with the ORAP, subpoenas can be served that may end up revealing information about your assets, obtained from accountants, real estate brokers, stock brokers, lenders, and banks. What are the dangers if I do write some checks on the low-profile account? In addition to utilities and rent, a really sharp PI will search for any payments by check for property taxes, insurance, contractors, plumbers, time shares, and who knows what else. Think carefully before writing any check on such an account. In your blog of November 3, 2012 (Can your bank track the use of a credit card in real time?), about the Whitney Heichel murder in Oregon, you show how Jonathan Holt was traced in real time because he used Whitney’s credit card to buy gas. Would this be the case if just ATMs were being used? Yes, because aside from Whitney’s card, Holt would have had to use her PIN. Her account could not have been accessed without it. (Note to readers: If you read that article on my blog, you know this was a very special case. The confidentiality normally provided under banking laws was badly bent. No PI could normally duplicate such a scenario.)
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Chapter 5 Open an Invisible Bank Account in Canada A bank book makes good reading— better than some novels. —Harry Lauder
For both Americans and Europeans, no country is easier to access than our northern neighbor. An advantage for Americans is that they can enter the country on foot as well as by car, boat, train or plane. The language is English and the natives are friendly. Further, Canada does not have a "tax haven" reputation. Tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of Americans and Europeans have Canadian bank accounts. Why not Open an Account in Switzerland, Singapore, or Liechtenstein? Since the 2010 passage of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which seeks to prevent tax evasion by Americans with offshore accounts, opening a foreign bank account has become mission impossible. On May 24, 2012, The Christian Science Monitor ran an article “Offshore Bank Accounts: No Americans Allowed.” Here are just two paragraphs; they suffice to answer this question. The 2010 law, to be phased in starting Jan. 1, 2013, requires financial institutions based outside the U.S. to obtain and report information about income and interest payments accrued to the accounts of American clients. It means additional compliance costs for banks and fewer investment options and advisers for all U.S. citizens living abroad, which could affect their ability to generate returns. “I don’t open U.S. accounts, period,” said Su Shan Tan, head of private banking at Singapore-based DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest lender, who described regulatory attitudes toward U.S. clients as “Draconian.” As of this writing, Canada is still opening accounts for Americans because of the tremendous number of Americans who own properties and do business in Canada, and I expect this to continue. Why Open an Account in Canada at All? In 1933, incoming President Franklin Delano Roosevelt temporarily closed every bank in the country. Since then, it has been said that this kind of thing will never happen again. However, that was before 9/11, when the U.S. government suddenly grounded every non-military aircraft in the entire country. (In Canada, they kept flying.) If a future terrorist attack is initiated via computer and takes down this country's electronic transfer systems, it will be banks instead of airports that will shut down. Should that happen, those of you with Canadian dollar accounts may decide to vacation in Canada for a few days or weeks, using automatic teller machines (ATMs) to obtain the Canadian dollars you need. Which Bank? 19
Not all banks will still open accounts for Americans, but many will. It depends on both the bank and the province, as some provinces have rules that others do not. The bank I recommend to my own clients is the BMO Bank of Montreal, often shortened to either "Bank of Montreal" or "BMO" (pronounced BEE-moe). From this point on, I refer to BMO. The Appointment Most Canadian banks work on an appointment system. Locate the bank where you wish to open your account and then call to set up a meeting. Explain that you live in the U.S. but that you wish to open an account with them for some specific reason. (Perhaps you do business in Canada from time to time, or you often vacation there, or you are planning to eventually purchase a second home there.) To locate a specific branch, go to the Bank of Montreal's web site, http://www.bmo.com. Allow at least an hour for your appointment, and preferably an hour and a half. I suggest, therefore, that you make your appointment with the bank's financial services manager for not later than 2:00 p.m. In What Name? Because you will be asked for identification—usually your passport and one additional piece of identification—open the account in your own name. Note: Even if you have a New Mexico limited liability company, leave those documents at home. The bank will not open an account in the name of your LLC unless you first go through the complicated formalities of registering to do business in one or more Canadian provinces. Trust me, this is a route you do not want to take. Ghost Address and No SSN At one particular branch of BMO in British Columbia, I was told that they may ask for your Social Security number, but that it is not required. At another branch, however, they didn't even ask. In any event, Canadian banks normally keep track of accounts by Canadian health insurance numbers, and since you do not have such a number, none will be entered. Also, the address you give them should not be your home address. Many of my clients use a ghost address in Alaska. If that doesn’t work, try again at a different branch. (If you’ve been following the advice in my How to be Invisible book, your driver’s license will not show your home address. If it does, prepare to explain why the ghost address you give them is the one to use, on the odd chance you might be asked) However … I neither encourage nor discourage you from opening a Canadian account. The aforementioned information is believed to be accurate, but I cannot predict what any branch of a bank will do under specific circumstances. Before traveling to Canada, please telephone ahead to make an appointment with the bank and to confirm your intentions. 20
Questions and Answers Should I open an interest- or a non-interest-bearing account? Interest rates in Canada are low to begin with, and Revenue Canada automatically withholds a percentage of interest earned by foreign depositors. I suggest, therefore, that you open only a non-interest bearing account. These accounts have more and better features than the interest-bearing accounts. Which is better, an account in American or in Canadian dollars? That will depend upon your reason for opening the account. If privacy is your sole purpose, then you may perhaps choose to keep the account in American dollars. If, on the other hand, this is an account you might someday need for an emergency stay in Canada, or if you fear a possible U.S. "banking holiday," then by all means open the account in Canadian dollars. If you are undecided, then open your account in Canadian dollars. This will make more sense to the bank representative, especially if you tell him or her that the account will be used to pay bills or make purchases in Canada. I just read in today’s Wall Street Journal [January 28, 2013] that Moody's has downgraded six of Canada's largest banks, citing concern about high consumer debt levels. Your comment? I note that Royal Bank of Canada was not one of them. In any event, I doubt that the banking system will collapse in Canada unless it has also collapsed in the U.S. Will I need to order any checks from the Canadian bank? The bank will give you four temporary checks, but unless you plan to actually pay some bills in Canada itself, you will not need them. (American banks will normally refuse to process personal checks drawn on a Canadian bank, even if the account is in American dollars.) How much cash can be carried into Canada? You are required to declare any amount if it is $10,000 or more in Canadian dollars. To avoid this reporting requirement—and to be on the safe side—I suggest you not enter Canada with more than about US $8,000 at any one time. Can a Private Investigator locate a Canadian account? This depends on the PI, and on whoever is paying him. I asked this question of a skilled PI who tracks down assets both in the U.S. and abroad. He says he first checks for American accounts. If he comes up dry, and if his client is willing to spend more money, he will expand the search.
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However, his next step is usually offshore banks in known tax havens. The latest targets on his list are banks in China, because China is fast becoming the place to bank for anonymity. (Note: He says he himself would never open an account in China because there is little if any security.) The only specific searches he has done in Canada have been for targets who are known to be Canadian citizens. “The searches are done by province,” he says, “and I'd need the insurance number of the individual. If this number is unknown, it would cost the client extra for me to find the account.” He says the bottom line is that if he somehow learned that the person did have a Canadian account, he could track it down… but it would be far more difficult than in the United States and his client (usually a law firm) would have to pay him a substantial additional fee. As of the time this is written, if his target was American, he has never been asked to track down an account they might have in Canada . Can the police track the use of my ATM card? I put the above question to a forensic computer expert in the police department of a large city on the western coast of the U.S. His answer: “I think finding someone through their use of an ATM card, even frequently, under those circumstances would be exceedingly difficult. Having done financial asset investigations against narcotics traffickers, I know that if you don't know the identity of the bank account, you are shooting craps trying to find it. I've been to a lot of training on asset tracking, and I've worked joint investigations with the feds. I don't think anyone in traditional law enforcement would have any different of an opinion than mine. (I say traditional, because who really knows what the NSA, CIA, and the like are capable of?) “When we had good reason to believe our suspect had assets, and no paper trail of them turned up in a search warrant of their residence, we were reduced to calling all the security folks we knew from the various banks and asked them if there were any accounts under a certain name. I doubt if anyone would think to check Canadian banks. If it was a common name we would have to write a search warrant (thank God for the Constitution) and would have to convince a judge that we had reason to believe it belonged to the right person. Frankly, my professional opinion is that such an account would be almost impossible to find.” Note to Canadians All of the foregoing applies to you, but in reverse. If you are not afraid of the American dollar, then consider opening an account in the United States. Note to Europeans, Australians, and all others from outside North America Next time you visit the U.S. or Canada, open an account during your visit.
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Chapter 6 A Time to Keep Quiet I had the right to remain silent... but I didn't have the ability. —Ron White
The War Advertising Council's "Loose Lips Sink Ships" posters, produced during World War II, reminded Americans of the dangers of revealing too much information to the enemy. Those of you who lived through those times may remember some of them: • • • • • • • • • •
Button Your Lip Closed for the Duration Keep It Under Your Hat! Loose Talk Can Cost Lives Careless Talk Got There First Sh-h-h, Silence Means Security Don't Kill Her Daddy with Careless Talk Don't Be a Sucker! Keep your Mouth Shut Watch Yourself Pal! Be Careful What You Say or Write Don't Let the Little Birds Snap Up Your Confidential Words
At that time, of course, the enemy consisted of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. When it comes to keeping your private information private today, however, a comic strip character said it best: “Yep, son,” said Pogo to his friend Porkypine back in 1971, “we have met the enemy and he is us.” And the enemy is indeed “us” if we talk to others about our invisible money or our faraway bank accounts. Do not tell anyone your secrets unless they have a need to know—such as the executor of your trust. Even then, you may decide to leave him only sealed instructions, to be opened only after you die. What to Do if Your Secrets are Already known? Children love to brag. In their early years they are incapable of grasping the importance of keeping a low profile and never bragging about anything. Even with adults, the temptation may still be there. We may be proud of how much money we’ve made, or 23
about the secret room in our home, or about how we outfoxed some PI who was trying to track down our assets. This desire is especially present when downing a few beers with old friends, so remind yourself beforehand to remember, “For everything there is an appointed time … a time to keep quiet and a time to speak …” (Ecclesiastes 3:1,7) When it comes to secrets, it’s always “a time to keep quiet.” (Console yourself by remembering that no one likes a braggart anyway.) How to distribute your assets On your person: • •
Enough in your billfold to pay for small purchases For women, the balance in a pocket in your panties, bra, and/or in an elastic band around your thigh. For either sex: A money belt (with or without the belt knife) and/or an inside pocket in your jacket.
In your car: • • •
Small bills in the ash tray A few larger bills in a junk mail envelope in the dash compartment Serious cash in a fake can mixed in with tools in the trunk
In your home: • • •
Loose bills and change in a top drawer in the master bedroom More cash divided between a soda can in the back of the refrigerator and an an Ajax can under the sink Any amount running into the thousands to be kept in a fireproof safe in a secret compartment or in a “panic” room
How to protect your bank statements One you have balanced the account, either shred them, scan them to a disk and then hide the disk, or keep the statements in an extremely safe place. To hide from the fact that you even have such bank accounts, the main step is to have them come to a post box where only you have the key. Even better is to have all statements mailed to a ghost address, such as the one I offer in Alaska. In that case, you receive your statements inside another envelope with just the sender’s name and address, rather than the bank’s name and address. The danger of books and printed reports Once you have used the information in this report, either hide it well, pass it on, or get rid of it. Author Dennis Fiery says that an editor at Loompanics told him about a report from California’s Santa Cruz Police Department. “They found a book,” he says, “in a suspect’s house about how to hide things, which they immediately read. Using the book as their guide, the cops were able to locate the suspect’s stash and bust him!”
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Chapter 7 Choose Your Level and Set a Date Promises are like the full moon, if they are not kept at once they diminish day by day. —German Proverb
Unless you at least do something to hide your cash or other assets, you’ll have read this ebook in vain. For that reason, I urge you to promise yourself that you will set a specific date to start on Level One. Order some can safes so you’ll have them on hand for the Level One Day. Draw a big red circle around the LOD. Now back up three days from that date. Write “3 days till action!” Write something similar for the next two days. And when the Level One Day arrives, start hiding things come heaven, hell, or high water. Level One 1. Hide some cash in your home—small bills as well as large. 2. Use a can safe to hide cash in your car, pickup, or SUV. That wasn’t too hard, was it? When it come to an emergency required cash, you are already ahead of 99 percent of your neighbors, right? Set a date for the next step up. Level Two 1. Obtain a ghost address far from where you live. 2. Travel to a faraway state and open an account with your ghost address. That took more time and a bit of money, but it was worth it, was it not? If you’re ever hit with a frivolous lawsuit, your hidden bank account will be harder to find than the accounts of 99.9 percent of your neighbors! Level Three 1. Open an account in Canada with Canadian dollars. Get an ATM card. 2. Purchase gold and silver. Hide it well. Now you’re ahead of 99.99 percent of your neighbors. Sleep well! Level Four Learn Spanish. Tell everyone you are moving to Spain, but actually move to Ecuador, where the currency is the U.S. dollar. Buy a rural property in the name of a nominee. Bury everything. (As of this writing, I have not yet advised anyone to go to Level Four.) In Conclusion
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Make a firm promise to yourself, today, to step up to Level One by a specific date. If you have any questions or comments about this ebook, I would be delighted to hear from you. My email is
[email protected].
P.S. If you enjoyed this ebook, a review on Amazon would be most appreciated. If you decide to do that, please let me know what name you used.
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Additional Information How to be Invisible—Here are just a few of its 29 chapters:
How to Obtain Your Own "Ghost" Address Smartphones, Dumbphones, pagers Bank Accounts and Money Transfers Hidden Ownership of Vehicles and Real Estate The Dangers of Facebook Are Real How to Secretly Run a Home-Based Business The Dangers of Facial Recognition How to Disappear and Never Be Found Are You About to Flee to Another Country?
For more information and reviews, see: Kindle edition. Hardcover edition. Your questions answered During the past thirteen years I have answered thousands of questions on my Q&C page, and thousands more by email (
[email protected]). In addition, I am available for personal consultations regarding privacy and security. To see a list of all ebooks currently available, go to Amazon page. Sign up for news and discounts here.
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