A couple in Houston, excuse me, I mean a very rich couple in Houston is divorcing after three decades of marriage. Together, they have several houses, including a $ 45 million flat in London's Billionaire Square that the couple bought in 2011. Marie Bosarge then spent the next two years flying between Houston and London to decorate the house with the help of a team. of interiors. designers. When the house was finished, she was excited to move out. However, when the house was complete, Wilbur Edwin "Ed" Bosarge had left it for his Russian lover of about 20 years. Ed and his lover moved into the London house together. Now, as Bosarge's high-risk divorce battle unfolds in the Texas courts, Marie can no longer access any of the 12 houses she and her husband bought while married, including a huge mansion in Houston, an estate in Aspen, and a private island in the Bahamas. Ed, 80, moves between the couple's houses as he pleases.
Of course, it's not uncommon for couples to fight over houses during a divorce. However, the Bosarges are taking it to a new level, or at least Mr. Bosarge is doing it. Marie claims that her ex established complex ownership structures for the houses (without her knowledge) that make Ed the sole owner of her many houses and to prevent her from accessing billions of cash and other assets through a trust established in South Dakota, a state that has become a tax haven for the wealthy in recent years.
Court documents of the former couple's divorce reveal that her attorneys said Marie has no evidence that she has any claims on property in her community. And it is not just his ex-wife of many decades, old Ed is leaving out of the family wealth, he is also eliminating his children and grandchildren.
Ed and Marie were married in 1989. Ed and his business partner Bruce Eames founded Quantlab Financial in 1998. Marie answered the phones of the company, which soon became a leader in high frequency trading. The Bosarges enjoyed their newly discovered wealth and generously spent it on homes, three yachts, arts, and other ornaments of the wealthy. Public records reveal that all the houses, except for a 1920 Mediterranean house that the couple bought in Houston in the 1990s, are owned by several limited liability companies or trusts. Some of the Bosarge properties are:
- Chateau Carnarvon – In late 2010, the Bosarge purchased a 27,000-square-foot mansion in Houston for $ 10 million. They spent $ 20 million to renovate it and filled it with $ 50 million in art and antiques. The property first came to market in 2014 for $ 43 million. Currently, the house is on the market for $ 29 million.
- Villa Maria – The Bosarges bought a Mediterranean-style house from the 1920s in the 1990s and added it significantly over the years. A music room on the second floor with a 60-person capacity for concerts was added. Marie is a music lover who sings and plays the piano.
- Mountain Song – The Bosarge & # 39; s bought his 14,000 square foot home in Aspen, Colorado in 2009 for $ 12 million. They gutted and renovated the house. The property is on the market for $ 28 million.
- Private island in the Bahamas: In 2008, the Bosarges purchased a 72-acre island in the Bahamas for $ 250 million, which included the cost of the island and infrastructure construction that includes a dock and four houses on the island, one for they, a guest house, and one for each of Ed's two children, as well as for the staff rooms. The property is now a resort owned by a Bosarge trust.
- Southern Song – The Bosarges spent summers on the Maine coast. They bought five properties starting with a house for themselves on Southport Island.
- Boothbay, Maine – The Bosarges bought a home for Ed's children not far from South Song. The dock was deep enough for the family yachts. They also bought the house next door for their yacht captains and their families.
- Belgrave Square – In 2011, Bosarages bought a house in London's exclusive Belgrave Square for $ 45 million.
In 2013, Ed told Marie that he was going to leave her. She was in shock. She was in love with him. He, however, had fallen in love with a Russian socialite in her 20s named Ana Kostenkova. Marie soon found out about her girlfriend. When they parted, Marie claims she was asked to sign an agreement with 100 Carnarvon LLC, the entity that owns the 27,000-square-foot Houston mansion called Chateau Carnarvon where Marie lived. In 2017, when Ed officially filed for divorce, she was evicted from Her home just before Christmas.
Ed Bosarge began creating his complicated network of trusts and other entities to buy property in 1983. Marie's attorneys allege that after Ed fell in love with the Russian in 2012, he took additional steps to remove Marie's interests in trusts and other entities moving assets to trusts in South Dakota. It's not just the houses that Ed has been blocking his ex-wife for over 30 years. Ed even went after a diamond necklace he gave her for Christmas a year. He sued her in 2018 for the return of the necklace, as well as for the return of the furniture and art he brought with him when he moved from Chateau Carnarvon.
Marie, 66, says she has almost no cash and is struggling to pay her legal bills. She said almost all of her homes, furniture, artwork, and cash were purchased or transferred to this series of trusts. According to Marie, up to $ 2 billion in property is hidden in these trusts. However, Ed claims that number is closer to $ 800 million. The couple's community property is worth $ 12 million. Community property is generally divided equally in divorces in Texas. Marie's attorneys are accusing Ed of using the trusts to hide income and assets that should be part of Bosarge's community property.
The way trusts are created in South Dakota, even if Marie wins her case in court, she may have a hard time collecting money and property from her ex. This court case was scheduled to start in April, but has been delayed due to coronavirus concerns.