Baar,19.02.2018

German lawyer questions credibility of Zug financier's account

Last week it was reported how the offices of a financier in Baar had been searched by the police after his name had been linked to partners in a snowball investment scheme in Germany. Whereas the sum involved was previously reported as EUR 87 million, now this has increased to EUR 300 million.
 
The fiduciary agent in Baar, who has not been named, vehemently denied any connection with the fraud, announcing at the same time that he would cooperate fully with both German and Swiss authorities in their investigations. He had earlier claimed that, when he had not been able to contact a firm in Gibraltar he had charged with managing the assets raised, he, along with other partners, had gone to the British Overseas Territory to investigate himself, “alas to no avail”. It was as a result of these funds disappearing that he and other German partners involved took out legal proceedings “against persons unknown” in Berlin, a move supported by some investors if this meant their being able to retrieve their funds.
 
Meanwhile, other investors, several dozen of them, out of the 2,000 - 3,000 in all, have engaged the services of investment lawyer Christian Mertsch of Hamburg. He questioned the credibility of the Baar financier’s account of what happened, saying that “people who have raised EUR 300 million from investors do not fly to Gibraltar to knock on doors to find out what has happened to the money.” Indeed, he felt this was just a ploy on the part of the Baar fiduciary agent and his German partners involved to buy time. It turned out that legal proceedings had indeed been initiated, but against the Baar agent and his partners themselves. “It would not surprise me at all if the whole story about the asset managers in Gibraltar was a fabrication,” said Mertsch, who also confirmed that assets to the tune of EUR 80 million had been able to be recovered. Now it is hoped the remaining EUR 220 million will be able to be found.
 
The specialist lawyer went on to say that it was highly likely the Baar agent had been fully aware in the investment scam and that his company was not just acting as a clearing house, as the latter had previously claimed.
 
In another development, one of the investors concerned about his lost funds has commissioned Düsseldorf lawyer Martin Wolters, who specialises in such financial matters, to look into the matter. He (the investor) said he had been waiting in vain for the return of his funds after having paid them into an “account in trust” at the Berliner Volksbank (the photograph shows its former headquarters) held in the (undisclosed) name of the company of the fiduciary agency in Baar. This account, with funds amounting to EUR 136,252, has now been seized, since, according to German law, the Baar company had been involved in “illegal portfolio management”.
 
Indeed, the Baar agent, as sole member of the board of the company, can now expect a visit any time now from Wolters personally, when he will be handing over allegedly incriminating evidence, obtained by a court in Krefeld in the state of North-Rhine Westfalia, details of which have been seen by journalists at the Zuger Zeitung.
 
As to who has invested money in this scheme, Mertsch said that not only had wealthy people invested in it, but also others who had committed their life savings or inheritances to it, the minimum amount of money to be invested being EUR 50,000. As previously mentioned, those who committed their funds in this way had been promised returns of 30% and had regularly been sent bogus reports on how well the investment was growing.
 
Mertsch thought that the bogus scheme had come to light after other financial companies involved had come across discrepancies and demanded further details. When asked if there had been any Swiss investors among their clients, both Mertsch and Wolters said this had not been the case. Apparently, among the documentation found, it was mentioned that no Swiss investors were to be targeted for the scheme, Wolters adding that they (Swiss investors) would surely have seen through it, “whereas for German investors there was something magical about Switzerland as a financial centre.” Then there was also the fear (on the part of the fraudsters) that the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Board (Finma) might start investigating.” Indeed, this is now the case.

When asked to comment further, the Baar agent said he could not do so as proceedings were ongoing, other than to say that if a Swiss fiduciary agent in Zug were involved, bearing in mind people’s prejudices, it was only natural that he were under suspicion.