Peninsula CEO accused by ex-wife of forging her signature in ‘fraud’ scheme that left him with ‘breathtaking’ living standard while she struggles

The co-CEO of a Foster City expenditure firm who allegedly makes million a year to help manage billion in clients wealth is accused in a lawsuit by his ex-wife of forging her signature in a nefarious scheme to defraud her out of her interest in the company and their home in posh Aspen Colorado The legal action by Anne Harrison against Eric Harrison and his company IEQ Capital alleged that the couple had been married for nearly years in when he proposed an extremely unorthodox tax-avoidance and estate planning strategy to transfer preponderance of the couple s shared assets into trusts to benefit their two children and others not named in the lawsuit Meanwhile Eric was having extramarital affairs and was considering the possibility that the couple s marriage might come to an end the lawsuit claimed The alleged scheme was a way to put himself in the strongest feasible financial position in the event the couple divorced the lawsuit filed Sept in San Mateo County Superior Court mentioned Eric Harrison did not respond to requests for comment Because Eric communicated Anne the strategy would be entirely advantageous to her and because she trusted her husband she agreed to it and the trusts were created the lawsuit commented It is virtually unheard of for couples to put the vast majority of their assets into trusts particularly in cases such as Anne s a homemaker who would lose financial advocacy in episode of divorce or Eric s death She is seeking unspecified damages and compensation for alleged losses Eric did not right away respond to requests for comment In Eric co-founded IEQ and began managing the couple s financial affairs together with the company the lawsuit disclosed He reported Anne that because the firm was thriving and growing it could get bought and he predicted a prospective windfall of as much as million for the two of them the lawsuit claimed He suggested they transfer their shared ownership interest in IEQ into the trusts the lawsuit alleged This time Anne balked telling her husband she worried that if they divorced or Eric died or couldn t work her holdings in the firm would provide her with income the lawsuit disclosed Eric the lawsuit claimed ignored her concerns and went ahead with the transfer plan In June Eric or someone at IEQ acting for him forged Anne s signature on a document transferring more than of their interest in the company into the trusts and Eric arranged for an IEQ subordinate to falsely notarize the document the lawsuit alleged Eric never stated Anne about the transfer the lawsuit claimed A year later Eric questioned his wife if they could transfer about half of their IEQ interest into the trusts telling her it was the right thing to do the lawsuit declared Anne at the time didn t know that nearly a third of their interest in the company had already been transferred into the trusts via her forged signature the lawsuit alleged And she firmly opposed the transfer over her concerns about her future guard the lawsuit reported Eric reassured her they would never divorce but promised that if they did split nothing would change for her because he would ensure she had access to his million salary and substantial monetary distributions from his ownership in IEQ the lawsuit claimed He also allegedly stated her their shared interest in the company was worth about million while telling someone else around that time that their holdings were worth up to a half-billion dollars Eric s gambit worked the lawsuit alleged and Anne reluctantly agreed to sign the transfer By the couple were divorcing and Anne uncovered that her signature had been forged and falsely notarized by another subordinate of her husband s on a document transferring their home in posh Colorado ski resort Aspen into the trusts the lawsuit claimed The lawsuit also named IEQ as a defendant accusing it of a shocking betrayal of trust and egregious breaches of fiduciary duty by allegedly prioritizing Eric s personal gain over the interests of Anne who entrusted her financial protection to its care IEQ did not promptly respond to requests for comment Related Articles Opinion Removing Sheriff Christina Corpus isn t oversight It s a coup San Mateo man sentenced to one year in jail for kicking down door attempting to stab man East Palo Alto man charged with criminal threats for allegedly threatening to shoot pair Nonprofit offers reward for information on East Palo Alto murder suspect Professor stopped at SFO for allegedly having gigabytes of child porn In Anne discovered that Eric s promise of financial assistance in scenario of divorce had been hollow He filed court documents saying the couple had not agreed to any future spousal endorsement the lawsuit alleged The present day nearly all of the assets that were once part of the couple s locality marital estate are now held by the various irrevocable trusts the lawsuit disclosed Through his IEQ salary and distributions Eric continues to maintain what is by any measure a breathtaking standard of living By contrast Anne frequently struggles to make ends meet without urgency loans and must now rent her home from certain of the irrevocable trusts