Since former Twin Cities auto dealership mogul Denny Hecker declared bankruptcy in June, his estranged wife and his bankruptcy trustee have accused him of living lavishly and questioned where the money was coming from.

Filings in Hecker's divorce case Tuesday provide a partial answer.

Hecker has deposited more than $355,000 into a bank account for his new business, New Dimension Advisors, court records show.

The biggest chunk, $125,155, comes from Hecker's own 401(k) account. But the deposits also include a $100,000 loan from the company that bought one of Hecker's former dealerships and two personal loans totaling $50,000 from longtime friend Ralph Thomas, whose bank claims Hecker misrepresented his financial situation to get a business loan in the spring of 2008.

Hecker's attorney, Bill Skolnick, did not return a request for comment.

Until recently a high-profile local auto dealer, Hecker owes creditors more than $767 million. He is also the subject of a federal fraud investigation. Hecker, 57, has not been charged with any crime and denies any wrongdoing.

Tamitha Hecker, 42, filed for divorce in the spring, just as the couple neared 15 years of marriage. The couple has two children, now 14 and 8.

Hennepin County Family Court Judge Jay Quam, overseeing the Heckers' divorce, asked the fallen auto mogul three weeks ago to submit documentation of his current income and expenses in order to decide whether to grant Tamitha Hecker's request for

$7,500 monthly alimony.

The three-page document Denny Hecker filed Tuesday lists 12 deposits into a bank account for New Dimension Advisors. In addition to the loans from Thomas, the deposits include a $100,000 loan from LKMCD Properties LLC, the company that bought Hecker's Inver Grove Heights Toyota dealership.

The deposits also included more than $54,000 in "reimbursements" that were not otherwise explained and about $700 listed as "unknown."

Four deposits, adding up to about $25,000, designated as consulting fees listed in the divorce filing don't indicate the names of the clients.

The document did not list any expenses.

Quam said Tuesday he has not decided whether there will be another hearing or what the next step in the process will be.

Thomas loaned Hecker $50,000 of his own money — even though Hecker defaulted on $7 million he still owes Thomas' bank, Vision Bank of Fargo, N.D. The bank claimed in bankruptcy filings that Hecker misrepresented his financial situation when obtaining a $5 million business loan and $3 million line of credit in the spring of 2008. Hecker has denied the allegations.

"He's been a good friend of mine for years," Thomas told the Pioneer Press on Tuesday.

In 1982, Thomas hired Hecker to work at the Minneapolis Auto Auction, a business Hecker later bought with the help of Walter Bush, the founder of the Minnesota North Stars hockey team. Documents filed in the early 1980s in Hecker's divorce from his second wife show that Hecker was the beneficiary of a $1 million insurance policy taken out in Thomas' name.

Thomas said he believes Hecker intended to repay Vision, and if it weren't for the $660 million he borrowed from Chrysler Financial, Hecker would still be in business.

"He's a good guy and he'll be OK," Thomas said. "How he's put up with this (situation) is beyond me."

Hecker had expected that a consulting agreement tied to the sale of his Inver Grove Heights Toyota dealership would provide $20,833 in monthly income over four years. He has not received any of that money because the bankruptcy trustee has questioned whether it is a diversion of the purchase price. The trustee filed a lawsuit that is still pending.

The trustee has broad authority over the assets in Hecker's bankruptcy estate.

Last week, the judge in Hecker's bankruptcy case denied a deal to sell Hecker's Brainerd-area Toyota dealership to Paul Walser, head of Bloomington-based Walser Automotive Group. That deal would have included a consulting agreement to pay Hecker $10,416 monthly for four years. The divorce-court filing Tuesday noted that "that transaction as of today will not happen."

Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Sales USA filed a motion in bankruptcy court Monday asking to terminate the dealer agreement with Hecker for that business, saying a new dealership can't be opened in the Brainerd area until the agreement is terminated.

Toyota says that it is "losing sales and service opportunities to competitors and thereby suffering significant damage to its image." Customers have to drive more than 60 miles to St. Cloud for service work or to purchase a Toyota, the filing said. A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 12.

MaryJo Webster can be reached at 651-228-5507. Nicole Garrison-Sprenger can be reached at 651-228-5580.