I am aware I am foolish; it will not be helpful to tell me that...
13 years ago I lent a company $100,000. They gave me $200,000 worth of gems as collateral; our agreement was that a jeweler I had know for years was to sell them off. I would get half the proceeds as repayment of the loan. She sold about $40,000 worth and then 9/11 happened and the gems decreased dramatically. Shortly after the company went out of business, leaving me with the gems. Since then she has sold another $20,000 that I got, since the company defaulted on the loan. I was told that I couldn't take any kind of loss on the whole mess until the gems were liquidated. Now the jeweler has disappeared. Her shop is closed and her telephone is disconnected.So what do I do now? I got back about $40,000 of my $100,000, so my loss is $60,000. How do I claim this on my tax return?