Tricky Situation

[SCOOBY1988]

Hi guy's and girls, been a while since I last used the forum I see it is a great as ever!

 

I am looking for a little bit of business advice on a really tricky situation I am in at the moment.

 

I own a relativley small company (I can not tell you what doing at this moment for good reason),

A friend of mine in the same industry is looking at possibly being sent to prison for a very long time

(again I can not say why, who or what industry because of this nature).

 

He wanted to sell his company assetts urgently

however he was arrested yesterday and put on remand,

 

from what I understand he will not be let out until the case is concluded and the outlook is not good to say the least.

I wasnt aware of the serverity until his wife put me in the picture.

 

He and his wife have split (not divorced), they can not and will not speak (Police have told her that no contact can be made).

His wife now wishes to sell the company assetts, the company is a sole trader business type, not a LTD company.

 

I have the opportunity to buy everything, however I am a little concerned on a couple of points in which I would like some guidance.

 

1- Can his wife legally sell off his/his companies assetts? without his permission? Alledgedly it is half her business as well.

 

2- If she can not and did do so, what action can her husband take when he gets out of prison years down the line?

 

3- If we did buy it all, had a reciept from his wife and later in time he tried to claim against me

can he do so or would it fall on his wife as she has sold it?

Would I be essentially handling stolen goods?

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers

 

Scoobs

[king12345]

It all depends who legally owns these assets.

You would probably never know for sure.

I know that many people in your situation get a third party to buy the goods and then buy them from the third party but it's dodgy ground.

If the crime involves confiscation of goods (for example if someone has been defrauded), selling the goods would be the wrong move for the wife.

[unclebulgaria67]

Agree.

 

Stay well clear of getting involved in this, as I have a feeling it might not work out and money will be lost.

 

Not being rude, but given the confidential nature of this, is it really sensible to ask a public online forum for advice, with only part information ? This is when a local Solicitors might be best option, but they will want any info that can be found out.