The disgraced chief executive of Lehman Brothers transferred ownership of a $14 million Florida mansion to his wife for $100 in a possible attempt to move assets beyond the reach of infuriated investors of the collapsed bank.

Richard Fuld, who led the 158-year-old investment bank to its demise last September, sold the beach-front house to his wife, Kathleen, for $100 (£72) on November 10, according to Marin County real estate records.

The couple had previously jointly owned the Jupiter Island property, which was valued at $13.75million when they bought it in March 2004.

Cityfile.com, the New York website that uncovered the secret sale, speculated: “Could Fuld be worried about the flurry of lawsuits from incensed shareholders and creditors?”

The 3.3-acre property is one of five luxury homes owned by the Fulds, who spend most of their time at their eight-bedroom mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Mr Fuld has been named in at least one lawsuit filed by San Mateo County seeking damages for the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The Californian local authority lost $150 million on its investment in the Wall Street bank.

Lawyers were divided yesterday over whether the decision to move the mansion into Mrs Fuld's name was an attempt to put assets beyond the reach of investors who intend to sue the former chief executive for compensation. Some lawyers cited Florida's unusually generous home protection laws, which could save the Fulds from losing their house in the event of a lawsuit or bankruptcy.

To take advantage of these rules the couple would have to prove that they resided in Florida, which could be difficult because of the amount of time they spent in New York. Also, if a court decided that Mrs Fuld did not pay enough for the mansion, the transfer would be deemed to be “fraudulent conveyance” that would render the move void, lawyers said.

However, Barry Nelson, an attorney who specialises in asset preservation, said that the mansion would have been protected from creditors under Florida law even if it had remained in joint ownership. “As long as the acquisition of the property was not a fraud on creditors, which it wasn't because it was bought when the bank was doing well, and the debt is only his, not hers, then the property would be protected,” Mr Nelson said.

Since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the 62-year-old banker, whose combative nature earned him the nickname The Gorilla, has become the symbol of everything that was wrong with Wall Street.

Even after overseeing America's largest bankruptcy, Mr Fuld has refused to admit responsibility for the fate of Lehman Brothers. Questioned by a congressional committee last October, Mr Fuld said that he felt

“horrible about what has happened to the company” but insisted that financial regulators and Congress should share the blame for the demise of the bank.

Mr Fuld also insisted that all his decisions in the months before the bankruptcy were “both prudent and appropriate” given the information that he had at the time.

He was paid $22 million in 2007 but did not receive any bonus or severance payment when he left Lehman Brothers last year. Henry Waxman, a Democrat Congressman, calculated that Mr Fuld had collected $480 million in compensation in eight years at the bank - a figure that Mr Fuld disputed, pointing out that he had taken home $300 million.

According to reports, Mr Fuld was running on a treadmill in the bank's gym, on the day he announced that Lehman Brothers was bankrupt, when he was punched in the face by an irate employee.

Mr Fuld's attorney did not return calls for comment yesterday.

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