How to avoid nominees to take a run with your money & business?

The nominees I have hired for one of my companies are people I have met in person, and they are honest but happy amateurs. I have obtained a power of attorney from them for the company, so I can do whatever I want. In places where I need to sign, etc., I have just copied their signature, and no one has asked.

In general, it is very rare for anyone to check the signature or who has the authority for what. But the fact is, the director doesn't even know half of the bank accounts the company has, and therefore he also can't access them.

The accounts he knows about are usually empty!

You can easily fool the nominees if you want, and most often you want to do that. I took similar actions for most of my companies. In some extreme setups it is not necessary because people don't exists any longer.

dirtyharry said:

How is it possible to protect yourself from the director you have hired as a nominee

You can't, because a “nominee” is not a legally recognized figure, and it might even be illegal to use one. Therefore, any “nominee agreement” you sign is null and void.
If you are the company's shareholder you can always replace the director.

dirtyharry said:

How is it possible to protect yourself from the director you have hired as a nominee””whom you don't know or have any information about””running off with all the money in your account? Or from him changing passwords, etc., so that you, as the actual owner, no longer have access to the company's bank account?

Simple. Don't use them.

People use the word nominee to mean different things.

To some people, a nominee director is some sort of regulated or licensed activity that you can hire from a reputable corporate service provider, trust company, and such. A nominee shareholder is someone who holds shares on behalf of someone else.

To others, nominees are real or synthetic people who have little to no aware of what goes on. If they're real people, they're often victims of identity theft or people who in exchange for some paltry some of money agree to be director, shareholder, and/or UBO of a business without really understanding what's happening.

The first is generally legal, well understood, and accepted. As @JohnnyDoe hints at, though, there are cases where nominees mean nothing. As an example, a nominee director in Seychelles who's director of dozens or hundreds of other companies isn't going to make much of a difference if your local tax office starts looking into your offshore company.

The second is probably illegal, or at the very least a violation of terms and conditions with banks and other financial institutions.

Sols said:

To others, nominees are real or synthetic people who have little to no aware of what goes on. If they're real people, they're often victims of identity theft or people who in exchange for some paltry some of money agree to be director, shareholder, and/or UBO of a business without really understanding what's happening.

Those are the ones I mean. And it works pretty well if you know what you're doing.

uplana said:

You can easily fool the nominees if you want, and most often you want to do that. I took similar actions for most of my companies. In some extreme setups it is not necessary because people don't exists any longer.

This is something that happened a lot.

As a result its difficult to find nominees that are willing to give an unlimited POA and are willing to accept no form of control.
Keep in mind that they are liable and would have to do the time. I know a couple of cases..

Any self respecting person that offers nominee services (I've done it in the past but stopped about 10 years ago) should at the bare minimum have indemnity insurance paid for by the company.

clemens said:

And it works pretty well if you know what you're doing.

Do these nominees know what they are doing?

Anyone offering those services and knowing what they are doing... they would think twice.

No they don't, that is the whole point in this setup.

As the owner I would stay far far away then.. The moment these nominees find out what powers they hold..

dirtyharry said:

As we have discussed in a thread in the open forums, it is associated with great risk to appoint 'nominees' in your company, especially a nominee director who gains access to bank accounts and, in general, takes control of the entire company.

How is it possible to protect yourself from the director you have hired as a nominee””whom you don't know or have any information about””running off with all the money in your account? Or from him changing passwords, etc., so that you, as the actual owner, no longer have access to the company's bank account?

In EU it's almost unreal and that's why you need a reliable one. For example, I don't let my nominees into trouble because clients don't want to provide account statements or share accountant contacts. If you expect proper service, then be ready to cooperate one way or another. Solution? Don't try to trick EVERYONE in this world. Just PAY your nominee the right monthly fee and sleep tight.

GPT said:

As the owner I would stay far far away then.. The moment these nominees find out what powers they hold..

Do you think the nominees know anything or have a life? I know exactly where to find such nominees and how this works. It is as secure as have your gold in Fort Knox! You don't need to worry that any person will ever figure out.

wonderfulboy said:

Do you think the nominees know anything or have a life? I know exactly where to find such nominees and how this works. It is as secure as have your gold in Fort Knox! You don't need to worry that any person will ever figure out.

Too many banks want the signatory to do an I'd check. In the past they had to show up in person. Nowadays it's online.

How would you circumvent that? At the very least you have an id / picture mismatch.

If a nominee like this decides to take control, they definitely can. That's part of the risk. Anyone telling themselves that the risk doesn't exist is either delusional or unaware.

You can mitigate it by having someone on the inside of the bank/financial institution that gives you a warning if that happens.

However, the best mitigation is to just use nominees that don't know, don't care, and don't suffer any negative consequences. Just let them pocket some extra money every month and they can go on live their normal lives slightly more comfortably than before. People that use these services pick nominees that don't ask questions and quickly remove ones that start showing signs of being difficult.

You are ignoring the fundamental laws of human stupidity. Which is stupid.

GPT said:

As a result its difficult to find nominees that are willing to give an unlimited POA and are willing to accept no form of control.

Depends on where you look for them! I don't find it difficult.

uplana said:

Depends on where you look for them! I don't find it difficult.

You're really good connected as I understand from our previous chat!

Alex Braun said:

In EU it's almost unreal and that's why you need a reliable one. For example, I don't let my nominees into trouble because clients don't want to provide account statements or share accountant contacts. If you expect proper service, then be ready to cooperate one way or another. Solution? Don't try to trick EVERYONE in this world. Just PAY your nominee the right monthly fee and sleep tight.

very important to work with your nominees if you want a reliable service, but better to not trust them at all.