A New York woman has filed a lawsuit against her brother-in-law and his sister, accusing them of fraudulent activities involving a family trust.
The lawsuit was filed by plaintiff Chana Adler against defendant Cheryl Feder, who is acting as the trustee of the SA 2021 Irrevocable Trust. The lawsuit centers around claims that Samuel Adler, Chana's husband, transferred over $1 million in marital assets into a trust without her consent and used it for personal gain.
The complaint details how Samuel allegedly created the SA 2021 Irrevocable Trust in 2021, naming his sister Cheryl as trustee. According to Chana, she never agreed to this arrangement or the transfer of their marital assets into the trust. The trust was intended to benefit their four minor children but has instead been used by Samuel Adler as a "personal piggy bank," with financial transactions conducted without Chana's knowledge or approval. Despite repeated requests for transparency regarding these transactions, Chana claims she has been kept in the dark about where the assets have gone.
Chana accuses Cheryl of negligence and breach of fiduciary duty by allowing Samuel unrestricted control over the trust’s finances. The complaint alleges that Cheryl failed to provide necessary information to Chana and did not exercise her duties with loyalty, care, or prudence. It further claims that Cheryl allowed Samuel to make all investment decisions and access funds freely from the trust account without oversight. These actions have led to significant financial harm to both Chana and their children.
In her legal action, Chana seeks a full accounting of all transactions related to the SA Trust since its inception. She is asking for either a return of fraudulently transferred assets back into joint marital property or compensation for those assets if they cannot be recovered. Additionally, she demands that Cheryl be removed as trustee and replaced with a neutral party who can manage the trust responsibly moving forward.
The lawsuit also highlights other alleged schemes orchestrated by Samuel alongside creating this sham trust. These include secretive financial maneuvers involving family members and business partners aimed at concealing assets from equitable distribution during divorce proceedings initiated by Samuel in September 2022.
The plaintiff is represented by attorney Abraham S. Beinhorn of Lieberman and Klestzick LLP. The case was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York under Case Id: ID is 2:25-cv-2193 and is presided over by Judge Faith Livingstone’s jurisdiction at Dallas County Court where related cases are being pursued against involved parties including Sunflower Bank seeking recovery on loans tied up with similar fraudulent activities surrounding MVP (Mobile Vascular Physicians).