Top Deadbeat Dad: Half-Million Bucks

NEW YORK - Jeffrey Nichols is the undisputed king of deadbeat dads.

He owes more than a half-million dollars in child support for his three kids, more than any other deadbeat parent in America. He has tried to hide his money - and himself - in Florida, Vermont and Canada, and set up a bank account in the Bahamas.

He has even denied fathering the daughter and two sons born during the 16 years he lived with his ex-wife.

While there are 7 million cases in which parents fail to pay court-ordered child support, Nichols is one of an elite 77 deadbeats whose offenses are so egregious the federal government has intervened.

He was arrested last week on an FBI complaint at his home in Charlotte, Vt., and is due in Manhattan federal court today for his first hearing.

"I've heard of people owing a few hundred thousand," said Elaine Fromm, president of the Organization for the Enforcement of Child Support. "But a half-million? This is the biggest."

Nichols' ex-wife, Marilyn Nichols Kane, says his behavior nearly put her on welfare.

"There was a time when I was six months in arrears on rent and he was keeping the cash reimbursements for the children's medical expenses," she recalled. "He'd cashed out our life insurance policies, dissipated our retirement funds and taken our car to Canada."

After Nichols walked out on her in Manhattan in 1990, she tracked him down in Florida, Toronto and Vermont. An investment adviser on commodities and precious metals, he had clients wire payments to a bank account in the Bahamas.

Nichols' lawyer, Mark Kaplan, did not return a phone call for comment.

A warrant was issued for Nichols in New York, but officials here lacked authority to have him arrested elsewhere. Vermont initiated its own case, but did not get Nichols to pay up.

Suzanne Colt, who handles child support cases for the city of New York, finally asked the federal government to intervene under a 1992 law, the Child Support Recovery Act. Nichols was charged with crossing state lines to evade child support, which carries a $5,000 fine and six months in jail.

Assistant U.S. Attorney General Andrew Fois, who works for the Justice Department in Washington, says the federal government can't be expected to take over the tens of thousands of support cases in which a child lives in one state and the parent lives in another.

"It is not only a matter of resources, but it also puts the prosecutor in the position of being the policeman," he said. "This federal law is not intended to take over what has been, and what needs to continue to be, primarily a state and local matter."

Meanwhile, Colt worries that Nichols - who was released by a Vermont magistrate after posting just $5,000 - will flee. His second wife, who never carried out her threatened divorce, died several weeks ago of terminal cancer. She left behind two adopted children, but Colt does not believe Nichols will stay in Vermont for their sake.

"He may already be in Canada," she said. "He's done it before. Frankly, I'll be amazed if he's in court on Monday."