Collecting from A Company

[flipstress]

I received a vague request from an uncle who owns a company in the Philippines about "checking out" another company that owes him quite a bit of money.

Said debtor company is described on its website as "A British Virgin Islands Corporation, International Business Corporation (IBC) Operating in the State of California."* There are also Federal Corp ID and Dun & Bradstreet ID numbers on the website.

I've been told by our accountant here at work that Dun & Bradstreet have reports, but these are not free.* Short of hiring a lawyer, are there steps my uncle could take or research first regarding the company?

I assume that a corporation that registers in the British Virgin Islands does so for tax avoidance purposes, so does that mean this company is shady?

Thanks for any suggestion.

flipstress

[lazygood4nothinbum]

california's department of state's division of corporations (or some such similarly titled entity) would likely require some sort of registration to operate there. often these files contain named principals of the firm and even their home addresses, though the listed principals might just be front people. also sometimes, especially with companies incorporated offshore, everything might simply be put in care of a registered agent like a local lawyer who probably won't be real cooperative.

also your local public library might have some dun & bradstreet or similar company info for free. just call the reference desk.

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Good luck, flipstress,

I have seen D&B's that look good for flakey companies. They get much if not all of their information from the company. Useless, I think. Still, your uncle should buy one.

More importantly, these guys have set up an off-shore IBC to prevent anyone from coming after their assets. Smart, but does not foster confidence. Yes, they did it for tax purposes, but they are also unreachable. If your uncle can't afford a D&B report on them, he can't afford to chase them around the world with detectives to find out who they are, much less collect on what is probably an unsecured debt. A lawyer will do him no good at all.

Buy a D&B report on them. See if they can be appealed to. Stop giving them credit in any case until they clear their debts.

Again, good luck, but don't count on anything.

Ed

[flipstress]

Thank you for all the responses. I will forward them to my uncle.

He is 72. I've heard that he has been thinking off and on about selling his business and retiring but sometimes he asks what else he would do. He mentioned moving to the southern islands and tending a big garden, so we'll see.

Thanks again!