Swiss Federal Court upholds Zug court's ruling

The Swiss Federal Court has upheld a Zug court's earlier ruling and ordered a man to pay back CHF 50 million he duped out of a wealthy woman by convincing her he could solve the world's energy crisis with his latest invention.
 
In parts, the case resembles that of the case of former head of finance of the city of Zug, Ivo Romer, who persuaded a wealthy elderly widow into looking after her financial affairs and subsequently allegedly embezzled most of her CHF 6 million assets. This case is still ongoing.
 
The Swiss Federal Court (photograph) examined this case where, as previously reported, a charming and eloquent younger man, now aged 47, managed to persuade an elderly woman in need of affection to part with CHF 50 million. There is even another similarity with the Ivo Romer case, in that his victim, Alice Erika de Beaufort-Bubeck, who has since died, did not enjoy good relations with her heirs. There is one major difference between the two cases, however; in this latter case the victim herself initiated proceedings, though she, too, has since died.
 
The younger man in this latter instance, E. Ventura (not his real name), seemed to present himself to his victim and the world at large "as a mixture of Superman, James Bond, Albert Einstein with a hint of Elvis Presley" (as the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper referred to him during an earlier court case) and talented in many walks of life such as playing the guitar and composing. The Zug court ruled that he had without doubt intentionally tricked the woman out of this huge sum of money and that he should pay it back, with interest, as well as surrender properties she had owned in Zurich and the Ticino.
 
The pair actually met in the Ticino at the time of millennium. Ventura, the son of Italian immigrants from Argovia, claimed then that he had a doctorate in physics and owned the patent to a highly effective solar cell which he had invented. He was sure that, with this, the world's energy problems could be solved. In order to make this claim credible, he had set up companies, laboratories, and worthless patents. In fact it turned out he had actually bought his doctoral title and knew very little about physics.
 
It seemed initially his deceit paid off and the woman duly bought 25 practically worthless bearer shares in the NLV Holding, a letter box company headquartered in a legal practice in Vorstadt in Zug, for no less than CHF 50 million. She dismissed all the warnings from financial advisers, thinking that, with this investment, this revolutionary solar cell would be developed.
 
However, three years later, it dawned on her that something was not quite right with this investment and she took out proceedings against him. As she was living in Zurich at the time, the case was heard there and the court came to the conclusion that the man had not been guilty of malicious intent and that he therefore could not be charged with fraud, especially as she was a woman with considerable business experience herself.
 
The matter of whether this really was a case of fraud was a central theme in a civil case which was subsequently heard in Zug, as the man's company was registered here. Ventura claimed she gave him the millions of francs because she loved him, and so that she would not have to leave it to her heirs. The court agreed in this instance. "It seems she really did want to help him out financially and it may well be the case that she was in love with him and did not want her heirs to come into the money. The alleged solar cell project came along at the right time for her to disinherit her heirs by spending the money in this way," said the judge in the Zug court at the time. What was also true, however, was that, if she had seen through his claim to be a physicist and seen him for what he really was, she would never have been tricked in this way and invested the money with him. One question Ventura failed to answer was, if he had been so successful in persuading her to part with her money through his seductive skills alone, why did he bother to invent a story about a revolutionary product?
 
In its judgment, the Swiss Federal Court rejected the man's appeal against the Zug court's ruling. Now, in addition to the millions of Swiss francs and properties he has to return to the woman's estate, he has been ordered to pay court costs of CHF 280,000. Whether he has the funds to pay all this is not known.