Zug,12.10.2018

Interview with Carl Velve

At the beginning of May, the story of the investment banker, who had allegedly started making the drug Crystal Meth at home due to financial problems, made headlines nationally. Now Carl Velve defends himself and denies the allegations.
 
Breaking Bad in Oberägeri: Police expose drug lab, is the headline by Blick in reference to the immensely successful series, in which the ill chemistry teacher Walter White begins to produce Crystal Meth to secure the future of his family. Since his arrest at the end of April, 41-year-old Carl Velve, an investment banker from Norway, resides in the Zug prison. Whilst the police always point to the ongoing investigations and say nothing, he is ready to speak out. He is innocent.
 
Carl Velve, why the interview?
 
Amongst the public there is this impression, as with the public prosecution authorities who are feverishly investigating, that I'm a kind of Walter White, a criminal, but that's not true at all. A mountain is being made out of a molehill.
 
How so?
 
If a 41-year-old scientist experiments with chemical substances at home, out of a scientific interest and passion, it seems suspicious to the investigators, but companies do so too and that in legal terms. It is forgotten that many innovations have arisen out of hobbies. Apple is known to have been founded in a garage.
 
What does that have to do with you?
 
Let me start from scratch. I grew up in Norway. At the age of eight, I received my first chemistry set. I was fascinated, as many boys are, and over time I had set up a real little laboratory at home. Experimenting with chemical liquids became my passion. At the age of 17, I went to the US and completed my schooldays at a high school with a major in natural sciences.
 
But according to your résumé, you are an economist?
 
That's right, but at American universities it is common to combine several subjects. In addition to economics at Harvard, I also studied eight semesters worth of mathematics and seven semesters of chemistry, and worked in the university laboratory.
 
But then you worked as an investment banker for JP Morgan?
 
Yes, with hedge funds in the field of wind power and gas. That's where my scientific knowledge came in handy. But I still experimented at home. When I moved to Oberägeri after working for an investment bank in Geneva to become self-employed in the canton of Zug, I immediately built my own laboratory in the new apartment.
 
To experiment?
 
Yes, of course, but unlike when I was a little boy and dealt with simple reactions, such as making little fireworks.
 
And as an adult?
 
In recent years, I focused on phenylethylamine, a group of substances widely prevalent in nature, and including adrenaline. I experimented with this group to find out what reactions can take place around these substances and what synthetic substitutes there are. Above all, I was interested in how one can modify the reactions, for example, to get to energy reserves quickly through adrenaline. So that these happen sooner or more intensively.   
 
How did you get the chemicals?
 
I bought these legally from specialist dealers. These do not sell to everyone either, you have to be able to make credible that you do not intend anything illegal, I could.
 
Synthetically produced methamphetamines, known as Crystal Meth, are also phenylethylamines.
 
These are the simplest and most explored variants of this group. The knowledge of these is fundamental in order to be able to deal with more complex substances. Therefore, I looked into the narcotics law and also consulted a lawyer and understood that there are no legal consequences if you produce without criminal intent and only in small quantities. But I have not only experimented with so-called psychoactive substances, but also with nanoparticles. You see, I am a scientist and certainly not a drug dealer.
 
But you made and consumed Crystal Meth?
 
Depending on how you modify the substances, they have different reactions. You can only find that out by testing it yourself. But I only produced very little and never sold anything.
 
But then your business went bankrupt, your car and the apartment were seized and the power turned off.
 
The company was an investment fund for investments in wind farms. In the beginning, everything went well, but one of those involved and in charge of tending to investors lied to us and invented some of the investors. Through this, the fund lost a lot of credibility in the market, collapsed and the money was gone.
 
And that was no reason to produce for others?
 
I've known for years how to make crystal meth, if I had wanted to sell it, I would have done so much sooner and my apartment would not have been seized in the first place. In my trajectory of experiments, I made what is understood as Crystal Meth only once, that was about two and a half years ago. That is why the police did not find any at my home, only traces. Honestly, I once thought to produce more as a last resort, but strongly decided against it. Once you get into that spiral, it would surely be hard to get out and I have way too much to lose - my wonderful wife and two children. As such I do not want to spend years of my life in jail.
 
Where is your family now?
 
My wife was with my four-year-old son on vacation with her family in Argentina when I was arrested - my eleven-year-old daughter lives with my ex-wife. Since all my accounts are currently blocked, there is no point in my wife returning to Switzerland. She would not have anything here. We call twice a week. But she is not doing well.
 
And how are you?
 
Also not well. My application for release until the trial was denied, as I am classed a flight risk as a foreigner. I would have so much to settle to save my family's existence, otherwise it will get worse. For example, I have pending bonuses from my employment in Geneva, for which I have to arrange their payout. But my hands are tied here in prison. So far, no charges have been made, there is now one last interrogation ahead. I hope that then the court will judge the facts correctly and without bias. Incidentally, if I was wrong and was not allowed to do the experiments, I would by the way be happy to take legal responsibility. But the important thing is: I have neither been dealing nor had any criminal intentions.

(Photo: Stefan Kaiser (Zug, 3 October 2018))