Founders’ Bios

Shar Mansukhani was born and raised in Chicago. As a teen, along with her older sister, Shar sang in the all girl group, The Party Girls. Under a recording contract with Polygram records, she moved to London, and later, after signing with BMG records, relocated to Germany. Several years later, after making records and touring throughout England and Europe, Shar returned to Chicago, where she and her sister owned and operated two of Chicago’s major nightclubs, My Sisters’ House and Convent. Expanding her reach, Shar became a partner in the Beverly Hills nightclub, Naked Lunch. In 2001,Shar produced thirteen episodes of the television show, Wisdom of Dreams, hosted by Martin Luther King, III.

A native of New Orleans, John Hilbert received a B.A. and J.D. from LSU in Baton Rouge. John relocated to Los Angeles in the early 1980’s, and, shortly thereafter, friends introduced him to the business of heir hunting, which combined his love of genealogy with travel. Since that time, he has immersed himself in every aspect of the unclaimed money and unclaimed property business, securing a reputation as an expert in U.S. and international genealogical and probate research and finding missing heirs.

During the end of Shar’s participation in Wisdom of Dreams, she met John, who approached her with an idea about an heir hunting reality show. To that end, Shar and John formed Heir Hunters International.  The duo signed with Court TV, and, teaming with Greystone Productions, created the show, The Heir Hunters.  Several years later, John and Shar signed with Bunim/Murray Productions, to produce the TLC pilot, The Wealth Hunters. They are now appearing on the infomercial, Free Money.

As heir hunters, John and Shar have solved missing heir cases in all fifty states. Their reach is not limited to the U.S., however. In the past, they have visited many different countries, including Scotland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France, Poland, and Lithuania. Although not visiting the countries, they have handled missing heir cases involving Australia, China, South Africa, New Zealand, Singapore, among others. Heir Hunters International maintains close working relationships with some of the world’s better heir finding firms.