I bet you 100% the money is stashed away in trusts that they must've set up for their three children. That would be the only comfort they can give to their children compensating for what they did. It's not that uncommon. Many of the children of con artists have huge college fund trusts and get to go to Ivy League Colleges and etc.
Was curious so I googled and the ABA led me straight to the FBI's website. Yep. Federal forfeiture law in criminal matters covers anything of value, including trust accounts and structured life insurance vehicles. In fact, they seize first and put the burden of proof on the title or account holder to prove otherwise.
You don't get sentenced to 15 years in Federal Prison for losing customer funds on trades. If that were the case, lots of losing traders (Brian Hunter at Amaranth for losing $6.6B comes to mind) would certainly have gone to jail.
But if it's trust accounts in children's name? I don't think you can touch it unless they changed the law. I have seen on American Greed so many children of con artists going to Ivy League colleges with money from trusts that their con artist parents set up for them and if the children don't want to return the money, there is nothing that the authorities can do.
No, like you I was curious and got on the ABA website - they had a link to the FBI website. You can structure a Trust or a Life Insurance Policy as a shield against third party civil action but you cannot shield anything of value in a Federal Case where they even suspect those proceeds were ill gotten gains from criminal behavior. The Feds seize and then the party has to prove otherwise. Doesn't matter whose name is attached to the account. If the Feds can trace it back to criminal gains they seize it. The Federal Criminal Forfeiture Statute cited on the FBI's website states "anything of value". Be logical here. If it were legal to hide money you stole in a trust or a life insurance vehicle in your wife or kid's name that would be crazy. The Feds seized $23M from the estate of the two Madoff sons - and the prosecutors were convinced that neither son knew anything about Bernie's crimes. The only reason that Ruth Madoff was allowed to keep $2.5M was because that was the amount agreed to by the prosecutors that she had earned lawfully during her work career. Ruth Madoff had almost $100M worth of assets in her name at the time Bernie was arrested - and nearly all seized and forfeited.