Asset hunters find flashy social media users often bankrupt

The WSJ: Fake cash, borrowed gear, costume 'bling' confuse investigators

MIAMI – William Shakespeare warned you: All that glisters is not gold.

Bankruptcy asset hunters -- lawyers and accountants who serve as chapter 7 bankruptcy trustees -- report debtors are often confusing them with their social media braggadocio, The Wall Street Journal reports

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After filing for chapter 7 personal bankruptcy protection, the court can seize or sell items of value that filers often go through great lengths to hide. 

Investigators shared some of their dead ends with The WSJ. When Ido Alexander spotted a man wearing gold chains and other jewelry on social media, he sent an appraiser to surprise him at his home. 

"At the end of the day, it was really costume jewelry," Alexander told the WSJ. "It was really disappointing."

When the bankrupt use fake cash, costume jewelry and borrowed cars and boats to hide their poverty on social media, the misleading information can end up in bankruptcy court.

It's not easy to fool Alexander anymore. He is a Miami lawyer. No surprise there. 


About the Author:

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.