A WIFE started "sham divorce proceedings" as part of an attempt to hide her husband's cash assets as he faced bankruptcy, a jury heard.

Mother-of-two Wendy Lodge obtained a decree nisi claiming her 18-year marriage had broken down.

But the jury at Lincoln Crown Court was told the divorce was not completed for a number of years.

Instead the couple set up home in Germany, out of the jurisdiction of the English legal system, making it impossible for creditors to pursue John Lodge for a £100,000 court order made against him.

Andrew Evans, prosecuting for the Department Of Business Innovation And Skills, told the jury Mr Lodge was made bankrupt in 2004.

He had failed to pay the six-figure sum ordered by the High Court in costs after he lost a civil case brought against him by his former employers Redwood Technologies.

Mr Lodge was sued for breach of contract, breach of confidence and copyright infringement after setting up his own software firm.

Mr Evans said the Lodges auctioned off their home in Wokingham, Berkshire, and transferred the entire £100,000 equity into a bank account in the name of Wendy Lodge and then into an account she held in Guernsey.

Half of the cash was Mr Lodge's share, but he signed an agreement which subsequently handed it all over to his wife.

Wendy Lodge, 50, formerly of Thomas Street, Lincoln, who now gives an address in Hamburg, Germany, denies a charge of aiding and abetting the fraudulent disposal of property in breach of the 1986 Insolvency Act.

Mr Evans said: "John Lodge deliberately tried to conceal his share of the proceeds of the sale of the family home by transferring the money to his wife. We say his wife assisted and colluded with her husband in the commission of that offence.

"She was aware of the civil proceedings being brought against her husband. We say she agreed to place the proceeds from the sale of the house into her bank account so they would not be available to satisfy the order her husband's employer subsequently obtained against him."

He said there was an attempt to hide the disposal of the money in a divorce settlement adding: "Those divorce proceedings seem to be something of a sham.

"After John Lodge was declared bankrupt the decree nisi lapsed and it was not until five years later that a decree absolute was eventually granted, by which time Wendy Lodge had to start a fresh divorce petition.

"By that time the defendant and Mr Lodge were living together at the same address in Hamburg."

The trial continues.