Ex-wife allegedly hid assets, suit claims

A State Farm insurance agent alleges his ex-wife stole more than $30,000 from him, while also refusing to allow him to split her retirement savings.

Marion Asher claims he and Tonia Asher divorced in 2008, at which time Tonia Asher owned a company called Asher-Vortex.

Asher's company built and remodeled structures for sale to the general public, according to the complaint filed Oct. 22 in St. Clair County Circuit Court.

At the time of the Ashers' divorce, the couple was supposed to divide their assets in half, which included money and property belonging to Asher-Vortex, the suit states.

However, Tonia Asher allegedly tried to hide the fact that she sold an Asher-Vortex house to her mother for $65,000 on Feb. 28, 2008, the complaint says.

"That at the time the 111 Warsaw property sold, Plaintiff had an ownership in one-half of the profit from the sale, pursuant to the Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage entered on June 5, 2008, and has made demand upon Asher-Vortex, Inc., through its agent, Defendant, Tonia Asher, for payment of all sums due and owing to him," the suit states.

Because of the sale, Marion Asher should have received $33,000, he claims, but has yet to see the money.

As another part of the divorce settlement, Marion Asher, who is a State Farm agent earning about $80,000 per year, the Ashers were supposed to divide their retirement accounts, according to the complaint.

Although co-defendants Citibank and Wells Fargo have been provided with the divorce settlement, they allegedly refuse to direct a certain portion of the $309,000 in Tonia Asher's retirement account to Marion Asher, the complaint says.

In addition to the money he says he is owed, Marion Asher is seeking more than $150,000, pre-judgment interest, attorneys' fees and other relief the court deems just.

Marion Asher names Wells Fargo advisors, Wells Fargo and Company, Trent Hayden, Citigroup, Citi Personal Wealth Management, State Bank of Lima, Steven Harms and David Tanner as respondents in discovery, saying he believes they have pertinent information about who should be named as additional defendants in the suit.

Rhonda D. Fiss of Belleville will be representing him.

St. Clair County Circuit Court case number: 10-L-556.