Ex-wife accuses Hecker of mail fraud

A post office box in Wayzata has become the latest battleground in the Denny Hecker saga.

The St. Louis Park Police Department confirmed Wednesday that they are investigating allegations that the former auto dealer may have committed mail fraud by rerouting his ex-wife's mail from her address to his.

Police officials said they are investigating the complaint, which was filed last week by Hecker's fourth wife, Tamitha Hecker. She is reportedly upset because she thinks her ex-husband was able to intercept communications from her attorney and the IRS, which is investigating Denny Hecker.

Denny Hecker has never lived at the St. Louis Park house that Tamitha rented since last fall, her attorney Becky Toevs Rooney confirmed.

A St. Louis Park police staffer said that if the investigation finds the case has merit, it could be referred to a prosecuting attorney for possible charges, but the probe "could take weeks." She declined to elaborate.

Reached in his office Wednesday, Denny Hecker's criminal attorney Brian Toder said Hecker did not switch mail addresses. "I have talked to the investigator" and he is exploring the possibility that "someone who had it in for Denny could have [done this] .... Denny had nothing to do with this."

Toder also said that it was possible that Tamitha Hecker staged the episode to throw suspicion on his client.

Matt Burton, attorney for the bankruptcy trustee handling Hecker's bankruptcy, said that he is aware that Hecker collects mail at the same office. Burton's office is not investigating the case.

Tamitha Hecker filed a complaint with the St. Louis Park police and the St. Louis Park postmaster last week.

The allegations are the latest to surface between the couple who slogged through a bitter divorce last year. Hecker told the Star Tribune previously that he is angry at Tamitha because she allegedly hid money that he said belonged to him.

That is a charge her attorney, Toevs Rooney, denied.

The couple's acrimonious divorce was granted by the court in December. In April the bankruptcy judge allowed Tamitha Hecker to retain jewelry and the contents of the couple's safety deposit box, including $189,000 in cash.

Hecker's criminal trial begins in October. His bankruptcy petition, which he filed in June 2009, came to an unpleasant end in April when he agreed to abandon his fight for debt forgiveness in order to focus on his criminal trial. Hecker still owes creditors more than $300 million, of which he will likely be on the hook for the rest of his life.