Whenever forensic accountant Hubert Klein takes on a new client, there is one question he must answer first: is there a genuine complaint or are they just angry?
Klein is increasingly being hired for divorce cases, sifting through vast amounts of information to see if a spouse is hiding assets from his ex — which means emotions often run high.
And the New York practitioner, with more than 35 years of experience, has seen it all. His cases involved partners who had depleted their marital assets with sex and gambling addictions, stay-at-home parents who had siphoned off money for years, and his life was even threatened by a disgruntled ex-husband.
“Divorce is an emotional process and people like to stick pins in each other's eyes,” he told DailyMail.com. “People will come to us and say 'he stole all the money' or 'she stole all the money' and our job is to listen very carefully and get to the truth.”
Hubert Klein, in the photo, has more than 35 years of experience as a forensic accountant. He increasingly handles divorce cases
Forensic accountants are increasingly appearing in US courtrooms, with their help in a range of high-profile cases, from Kevin Costner's divorce to the trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) – which regulates the profession – the number of accredited examiners has increased by 18 percent since 2018 to 68,000.
But Klein says it's no longer just the rich and famous who seek his services. Instead, a large proportion of his clients are 'ordinary' couples who work as teachers or trade union workers.
He said, “People have more assets than when I started this job. They have 401(K)s and properties – all assets that need to be split.”
A forensic accountant is someone trained in accounting and investigative techniques to sift through an individual's or company's records to find money that may have been hidden.
Couples divorcing may move toward divorce if the divorce is acrimonious and a complex portfolio holdings are at stake. Often one party suspects that the true extent of the finances remains hidden. In the case of Costner and his ex-wife Christine Baumgartner, both parties used their own accounts to assess the family accounts.
They can charge thousands of dollars per hour for their service. As a partner, Klein charges an hourly rate of €635.
Forensic accountants are increasingly appearing in American courtrooms, with their help in a series of high-profile cases surrounding Kevin Costner's divorce. He is pictured with ex-wife Christine Baumgartner in 2015
In the case of the Yellowstone star, both parties used their own data to assess the family accounts. They are pictured in 2019
He said, “I will meet any customer who wants to meet me. But sometimes people come to me convinced their partner is lying to them.
“When I really look at it, it's not worth them spending thousands of dollars on my services.”
And many of the cases can be extremely complicated, making allegations difficult to prove.
He recalls a situation where a man had hired his mistress through his company, meaning joint assets were paid to his new partner. Klein could only prove this by showing how inexperienced the mistress was for the role she was asked to play.
In many cases, he adds, the non-breadwinner in the couple has been throwing away money for years to save for their future lives.
Klein said, “Marriages don't break up overnight. It takes a while for people to fall in love, and it takes a while for them to fall out again. So we see a lot of this 'divorce planning'.
Divorce laws in the US vary from state to state. About 41 states adhere to the “equitable distribution” rule, which requires spouses to divide all their assets, income, personal property and debts in a fair, but not necessarily equal, division.
Forensic accountants have also been deployed in the case of disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. In the photo he appears in court in August this year
A judge assesses, among other things, the duration of the marriage and whether there are children involved.
But nine states – including California, Idaho and Texas – adhere to the “Community Property” rule, which divides all shared assets in the marriage exactly 50/50.
A small number – including Tennessee and Florida – may allow spouses to opt into this framework if they meet certain requirements.
As Klein notes, by the time a divorce is initiated, emotions are so strong that partners are reluctant to share their assets.
In one of his first cases, right out of college, he remembers a husband following him out of court and threatening his life.
“A judge once pulled me aside and said, 'Look, there's no shortage of miserable people in this world, there's always going to be money coming in,'” he said.
“The hardest part of the job is making sure you don't get tired of relationships.”