Chapter 9 - The Freezing of AssetsBy noon that same day, my father’s house was quiet again.
Elena Ruiz—the formidable family law attorney I had hired during my first trimester when Ryan’s behavior first started changing—sat at my kitchen table, sipping tea while reviewing the police report.
“The District Attorney has already denied bail for Ryan,” Elena said, sliding a stack of legal notices toward me. “Given the severity of the video evidence, the victim's advanced stage of pregnancy, and his threat to lock you in a basement, the judge considers him an active flight risk and a danger to society.”
“What about Patricia?” I asked.
“Her bail was set at fifty thousand dollars,” Elena replied with a sharp grin. “Which she cannot pay, because as of two hours ago, we filed an emergency petition in civil court freezing all marital and joint accounts associated with Ryan and his mother.”
I looked at her, surprised. “We can freeze Patricia’s accounts too?”
“Under Arizona law, since she participated in the assault designed to force a fraudulent property transfer,” Elena explained, “she is named as a co-defendant in our civil tort lawsuit for intentional infliction of emotional distress and conspiracy to commit fraud. All her liquid assets are tied up until trial.”
At that exact moment, Ryan’s business creditors acted.
May you like
Without the home equity loan to secure his debts, his primary lender filed a emergency receivership petition. By 3:00 PM, Ryan’s business accounts were seized, his equipment was slated for public auction, and his company website was taken offline.
In less than six hours, the empire of lies Ryan and Patricia had built had completely collapsed into ashes.
