Asset Investigation by Aaden Detective Agency Cologne in an Inheritance Case | Part 1

Concealed Inheritance?

Ms Bungert (all names changed), a client of the Aaden Detective Agency Cologne, had inherited — which at first does not sound problematic. However, her mother, Ms Anders, had passed away, which put matters into perspective. Secondly, mother and daughter had fallen out decades earlier and no longer maintained a close relationship, meaning that the death was certainly not a joyful event for Ms Bungert, but neither did it shatter her world. Thirdly, although Ms Bungert had always considered her mother to be reasonably well-off, the estate she shared with her sister amounted to only a few hundred euros.

Ms Bungert found this difficult to understand, particularly as her sister owned a substantial property. The suspicion arose: had the mother gradually transferred her assets to her preferred child before her death, without informing the less favoured daughter? Ms Bungert therefore commissioned the Aaden Corporate Detective Agency Cologne to carry out an asset investigation into her late mother and to research her financial circumstances.

Preliminary Investigations by Aaden Detectives Cologne | Step 1: Compilation of Known Information

During the preliminary investigations, our private detectives from Cologne, together with Ms Bungert, compiled the known information:

• Ms Anders (the client’s mother) had been in steady employment for many years, with an estimated net income of approximately €2,000–€2,800.
• Ms Anders had inherited over €50,000 from her own parents, officially documented, approximately seven years prior.
• Two years earlier, Ms Anders had divorced her husband and received instalment payments over 48 months for her share of the jointly owned house. Although the exact amount was unknown, the property’s total value at that time was estimated at €350,000–€400,000.
• Ms Bungert’s sister had been living for several years in a large house with extensive grounds, although both she and her husband were employed in professions where net incomes exceeding €2,000 would be unlikely.

Preliminary Investigations by Aaden Detectives Cologne | Step 2: Compilation of Speculations to Be Examined

The following suspicions were also to be investigated by our corporate detectives from Cologne:

• The sister’s house had been secretly financed using the mother’s assets.
• According to another relative, Ms Anders had invested substantial sums in the Benelux countries.
• After the mother’s death, the sister was the first to enter the deceased’s apartment and allegedly removed assets and relevant financial documents.

Commencement of Investigations by the Aaden Corporate Detective Agency Cologne

Through a contact and an enquiry at the local court, our Cologne private detectives identified a name linked to Ms Anders, which also appeared in her notebook along with a telephone number. As Ms Bungert suspected that funds may have been transferred and invested in the Benelux region via an intermediary, this individual was investigated further. It turned out to be the wife of a tax adviser, which initially reinforced the suspicion of assets held abroad.

A detective from the Aaden Corporate Detective Agency Cologne visited the tax adviser’s office address, which was also his private residence. It was a small, somewhat neglected house in a rural area — not indicative of tax evasion or covert financial dealings. As no one was present, the investigator contacted the adviser’s wife via a researched mobile number. She provided information about Ms Anders but referred the detective to her husband for more detailed financial matters. A personal meeting was arranged for the following week.

Examination of the Sister’s Financial Situation

Further research into the sister and her husband revealed that several businesses were registered under their names in the commercial and trade registers, all linked to their residential address. This indicated that, in addition to their employment, they were engaged in self-employed activities, suggesting higher income than initially assumed. In this light, the allegedly luxurious property appeared less suspicious.

On-Site Inspection of the Property

An on-site inspection of the address relativized the estimate of wealth, because the supposedly luxurious building had never been completed. The surrounding plot lay undeveloped, the driveway was only a gravel path, parts of the house’s exterior cladding were missing, and several cables hung half-installed around the property. The two clearly aging vehicles on the property (both long out of production), which according to a vehicle owner check by the Aaden Detective Agency Cologne were registered to one spouse each, could not have been worth more than €4,000 apiece — and even that, according to checks on online car markets, would only have been achievable for garage-kept vehicles with very low mileage.

Suspicion of Tax Irregularities

On a ground-floor retail unit that was listed under the name of one of the known commercial register entries, there was a notice several months old referring to the closure of the business. Signs referring to most of the other researched companies were also found on the premises. However, based on several other indications, our Cologne corporate detectives came to the conclusion that the business here had most likely been shut down completely — if it had ever existed at all, since several of the companies nominally carried out their core business in construction, plumbing, and installation. Perhaps they had been founded merely to save taxes during the construction of the house and the purchase of the land.

However, checking that suspicion was not among the tasks of our detectives in Cologne. What could be stated was, first, that the suspected owners had apparently run out of money some time ago and, second, that there probably had never been as much wealth available as previously assumed. The investigative trail of the sister’s luxury house therefore strongly suggested a dead end. Our corporate detectives from Cologne received further confirmation of this assumption through a credit check: for more than two years, the couple had made no principal repayments, and instead paid only about €800 per month in interest alone. Given these payment obligations, it surprised the operations management of the Aaden Detective Agency Cologne even less that the money had run out.

Part 2 of this Article

In Part 2, you will learn how this case ended. Please click here.