Paradise of untouchable assets

Trusts held in the Cook Islands can put money beyond the reach of American justice.

By Leslie Wayne
6:37 pm, December 15, 2013 Updated: 12:32 pm, December 16, 2013

Picture a paradise where you can be lawsuit-proof. A place to hide your hard-earned assets far from the grasp of former or soon-to-be-former spouses, angry business partners or, if you happen to be a doctor, patients who might sue you.

Lawyers drumming up business say they have found just the place: the Cook Islands. And, thanks to a recently released trove of documents, it’s become clear that hundreds of wealthy people have stashed their money there, including a felon who ran a $7 billion Ponzi scheme and the doctor who lost his license in the Octomom case.