Hide Your Assets and Disappear: A Step-by-Step Guide to Vanishing Without a Trace

by Edmund J. Pankau

A New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller ! Are you tired of the way you're living? Are you fed up with everyone trying to take your most valuable possessions--your money and assets--away? Are you sick of having creditors, the IRS, or a vindictive ex-spouse nipping at your heels? If only you could disappear without a trace...if only you could resurface in some exotic foreign place with a whole new identity and a brand-spanking new life. And on the other side, how would you like to track down that ex (and his assets) who owes you money? Want to know his tricks? For most people, this is just a fantasy. But it doesn't have to be. In Hide Your Assets and Disappear , one of the nation's top-ten-rated private investigators, Edmund J. Pankau, reveals all the tricks of his trade to show you how to hide it all or find someone who has. An experienced tracker who has worked for the government to recover missing assets, Pankau explains step-by-step how to successfully get away or find someone who has. Filled with vivid real-life stories of both successes and failures as well as an Internet research guide, this invaluable guide outlines exactly what you should know before you go, including the ever-increasing difficulties you will face as the world becomes more tightly linked through electronic networks. Pankau shows you how to pay attention to prevent slip-ups that can give you away, from birthday phone calls to magazine subscriptions to an off-the-cuff comment to a stranger. He prepares you logistically and psychologically to successfully make the transition to your new life and new self in a new world, and gives you the best information on how to go, where to go, how to live, how to behave, and even who to become once you get there. Should I keep my assets here or move them abroad? How do I create a new identity? How do I stay lost? Can I ever go back? How can I avoid anyone who might be looking for me? And how can I find someone who's disappeared on me ? How do people fake their own deaths? What can the government do to catch a concealer? Pankau has the answer for all these questions and many more, and provides the tiny, often overlooked details that can make the difference between lounging on a tropical beach or ending up on the wrong side of the law. Whether you're in search of a new life or someone who has hidden their assets and disappeared and left you in the lurch, listen to Edmund J. Pankau. With his unique, entertaining, eye-opening guide, he shows you how to go from victim to victor. Thinking of disappearing without a trace? Want to find someone who has? Consider these questions... Which is the better place to go, New Zealand or Panama? How much cash you can legally take out of the country? What are the hot spots the Customs Department targets as suspicious entrance points? What is FinCEN and how can it ruin your plans? Where is it better to keep money, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, or Switzerland? Should you seek out the expatriates in your new country or lay low? What should you do if someone recognizes you in your new home? What happens if you get sick abroad?

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1999

Reviews

[Emerson F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to comprehend and fun book. Remember that this is all it is, fun and NOT practical. It’s very outdated and not applicable unless you have the means and resources. Then again, if you have both then you should probably consult with your peers.

The author is cheeky and includes some entertaining anecdotal stories. It gets better as you read it as long as you make it past the recommended countries to disappear to.

[Elruin Elmsroot · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just so-so.

The author isn't well informed to write this book.
And, the moment this book was published, that information became invalid instantly.

[Sam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kind of amazed this book was published. Everything it says to do is highly illegal.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Readability 7. Rating 7. No review. As I update this record in 2007, I still remember this book. It is a literal guide to the title from a guy who specializes in finding people who are trying to do this. Of course, in the Age of Terror and with record-keeping advances, this is a lot more difficult, but some of the concepts are still very interesting.

[Renard Sessions · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you want to screw over your family, colleagues and govt this might be a good place to start. Anecdotal stories of those that got caught are hilarious but it's a bit out of date and needs a refresh.

[Audrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Technically prohibited, and practically impossible. Most of the info in this book is probably outdated now, as technology and laws have changed.

[FSU Alumni]

Edmund Pankau (B.S. '72)