Hecker trustee prowls for auto mogul's assets

Just as court battles seemed to be winding down for jailed auto mogul Denny Hecker, a fresh flurry of subpoena requests has surprised many in the Hecker camp.

The bankruptcy trustee in charge of finding assets belonging to the jailed auto pitchman this week asked the bankruptcy court to subpoena five people as well as Hecker's prison e-mails in the hopes of locating more hidden assets.

The request by trustee Randy Seaver surprised Hecker's ex-wife and attorneys because it had been months since Seaver asked the court for depositions. With this latest request, however, Hecker's former defense attorney, Brian Toder, exclaimed of Seaver: "Jesus! He's thorough."

Seaver's request to question Hecker's friends, an ex-wife and his bankruptcy attorney is the latest in a long string of subpoena requests that date to June 2009, when Hecker filed for bankruptcy protection and was quickly accused of hiding assets from the court.

Hecker, who once owned 26 dealerships, a national car rental chain and fleet and leasing outfits worth an estimated $6.8 billion, is serving a 10-year prison sentence in Duluth for bankruptcy fraud and conspiring to defraud auto lenders out of millions of dollars in ill-gotten loans. He has been jailed since October 2010.

Seaver declined to comment Thursday, but in the court filings he asked the bankruptcy judge for permission to question individuals because they "may possess information regarding the financial affairs of the debtor and Christi Rowan, now known as Christi Hecker."

Separately, Rowan who was sentenced to 14 months in prison in March, was released from an Illinois prison to an undisclosed halfway house in the Twin Cities sometime within the last few weeks. She is scheduled to be released from custody on Feb. 28, 2012, although she will remain on probation for five years.

Sandra Hecker told the Star Tribune Thursday that she has "no idea what [Seaver] could possibly want to question me for."

Asked if she had any information about Rowan or Hecker's finances, she said "I just don't know anything."

Sandra Hecker said she only knows about a life insurance policy that she and Denny Hecker took out in 1999. She said she let it lapse in August when she could no longer afford to pay the premiums. She added that after Denny Hecker went to prison, he filed in June to have her alimony payments suspended.

"And that was fine with me because I wasn't getting any money anyway," she said.

Reached by phone Thursday, Neve said that there have been "so many ... filings related to this case," that he was not aware of Seaver's latest request. He also said he had never been involved in a subpoena request related to the Hecker case. Beyond that he had no comment, he said.

Seaver also asked to subpoena the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Federal Prison Camp in Duluth, where Hecker is in custody, in order to get copies of e-mails between Hecker and his wife.

Seaver said the e-mails "would assist the trustee in the administration of this case and the collection of judgments."

Seaver has long accused Hecker of hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance policies, trust funds and other money and property from the court after filing for bankruptcy. Hecker obtained a criminal public defender after claiming he had no money.

So far Seaver has recovered roughly $7 million for Hecker's creditors and he's looking for more.

The ongoing search for assets is understandable. Attorneys familiar with the case have noted that Hecker continued to live a lavish lifestyle despite claims that he had no money. He was jailed in October 2010 after court officials learned that he had hidden and cashed more than $154,000 in insurance money without reporting it to the court.