Helmut Kiener

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Helmut Kiener (born June 19, 1959 in Wernberg ) is a German financial fraudster. The trained social pedagogue and psychologist was provisionally arrested in October 2009 on charges of suspicion of breach of trust and fraud against him and sentenced in July 2011 to a prison term of over ten years. He has admitted that he embezzled a total of about 400 million US dollars through a Ponzi scheme .

School and education

From September 1965 to July 1969 he attended elementary school in Wernberg. He then graduated from the grammar school in Weiden from June 1969 to July 1976. From September 1976 to June 1979 he went to the technical college in Schwandorf . There he got to know the basics of stochastics from Karl-Heinz Popp, then a specialist mathematics teacher and later FDP member of the Bundestag, which he said he deepened during his studies and which also formed the basis of his later fund system.

From July 1979 to September 1980 he did his military service.

At the University of Applied Sciences in Fulda, where he studied from October 1980 to July 1984, he obtained a diploma in social pedagogy. He completed his studies at the University of Frankfurt am Main until July 1987 with a diploma in psychology.

Career history

According to his own information, he worked as an employee at the Gesellschaft für Marktforschung Cohorten in Offenbach from October 1987 to September 1988, where he was responsible for field research , the creation of questionnaires and the application of product testing methods. He then claims to have completed training at an institute for client-centered talk therapy by July 1990 . As an employee at a TRIAS advertising agency , he created advertisements from August 1990 to September 1995.

From October 1995 to July 2004 he was the manager of a hedge fund . During this period he has been working as an investment advisor since January 2001. In doing so, he advertised and marketed a K1 Fund Allocation System that he had created . At the same time he started advising a hedge fund in the Netherlands . Since October 2003 he promoted the hedge fund K1 Global Ltd. and from January 2005 for the hedge fund K1 Invest Ltd. He claims to have worked as a fund advisor for X1 Fund Allocation GmbH from June 2005.

The Kiener system (K1 Fund Allocation System)

Kiener developed his own method of raising capital for the hedge funds K1 and X1. To do this, he contacted the banks Barclays and BNP Paribas . Barclays reportedly issued at least $ 100 million in debt for Kiener , with the money being placed in trust funds . The money from these funds was passed on to X1 Fund Allocation GmbH . However, Kiener had direct access to this GmbH. Kiener now bought various shares in funds. One of these funds, Silverback , was managed by Oceanus Asset Management , which acted on behalf of Kiener. The funds K1 Global GbR and K1 Invest GbR managed by Kiener were the last place where the funds were transferred .

The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) had already become aware of these practices by Kiener in 2001 and as a consequence had forbidden Kiener to manage funds. When BaFin sued Kiener in court in 2003 and 2004 to have the K1 Invest Ltd. fund closed . and K1 Global Ltd. to achieve, the lawsuit was dismissed.

With the bank BNP Paribas, Kiener agreed to jointly finance a basket of hedge funds with derivatives . However, the bank paid in a much larger share than the Kiener funds. In doing so, Kiener determined the investment goals and had the funds managed by Oceanus Asset Management , which transferred the funds to Kiener's funds. The banks JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Société Générale are said to have been involved in Kiener's financing projects.

The seat of the funds K1 Invest Ltd. and K1 Global Ltd. was located in the British Virgin Islands of the Lesser Antilles . If the fund should generate profits, payouts to the investors could take place. Because in the prospectus of the fund it was stated that the own funds of the funds of the responsible company can be used freely . A total loss of the deposits would also be possible. The Swiss company TREUKAPITAL Treuhandverwaltung AG , in Göschenen was responsible for the customer administration of K1 Invest Ltd. and K1 Global Ltd. entrusted.

Life insurance funds

Kiener also managed to set up a fund for life insurance . He worked together with the Liechtenstein- based Vienna Insurance Group , which represents itself in public as Vienna-Life Lebensversicherung AG Vienna Insurance Group . Vienna-Life established contact with Kiener's K1 fund through a broker working in Germany. The jointly created product for taking out life insurance was K1 Invest Ltd. Called Vienna Life Fund Policy .

Liability issues

In the meantime there have been disputes about who should be liable in the event of a loss in value of this life insurance policy issued by Kiener. On the part of Vienna-Life, its head Günter Geyer claimed that the managers of the K1 fund would be responsible for investing the money. The Munich-based lawyer Peter Mattil takes the opposing point of view that Vienna-Life is liable for the reliability of the contractual partner if it has not been carefully checked. The lawyer Klaus Nieding represents clients who have invested hundreds of millions in Kiener's funds. Nieding was of the opinion that a custodian bank is responsible for the type of investment and ensures that no sham transactions are conducted with the fund monies. So far, however, no custodian bank has been found that is responsible for the K1 funds. The three banks named by the financial sales department Hedgeconcept deny having acted as custodian for K1 funds.

The tax advisor Josef Becker was intended to check the balance sheet and accounts of the funds , but his ability to act was limited: In the prospectus for the funds, it was stated that an examination of the submissions of the funds was only possible according to the examination specifications of K1 Invest Ltd. takes place .

Detention and liquidation of the funds

The investigating public prosecutor's office in Würzburg , headed by Chief Public Prosecutor Dietrich Geuder, had issued an arrest warrant so that Kiener was taken into custody. Kiener is said to have used funds from foreign banks in the tens of millions, contrary to the agreement. On November 9, 2009, Kiener's lawyer, Lutz Libbertz, lodged a complaint with the Würzburg district court , offering a bail of 500,000 euros. The complaint also alleged that Kiener had diplomatic status from Guinea-Bissau . The district court of Würzburg rejected the appeal on the same day.

Auditing firm Grant Thornton was founded by the director of K1 Invest Ltd. entrusted with the liquidation of the fund, as announced on November 10, 2009 by the management of the K1 fund. This also froze the company's funds. The demands made on the company could no longer be met. The decision to dissolve the fund was made for the benefit of the company and the investors , as the management announced in a letter to the fund's sales companies.

In April 2014, lawyers for the aggrieved investors announced that they had succeeded in relocating the bankruptcy of Kiener's companies from the British Virgin Islands to Germany. This would give hope to regain part of the money that has disappeared. Claims from investors no longer have to be asserted in the tax haven in the Antilles , but rather at Kiener's former residence in Aschaffenburg. A first creditors' meeting was announced for June 2014.

In 2016 the name Helmut Kiener appeared in the Panama Papers .

Managing director suicide

On July 3, 2010, the police wanted to arrest Kiener's managing director Dieter Frerichs on Mallorca , as there was an international arrest warrant against him. Frerichs had already been arrested in April 2010, but was released under certain conditions. He had denied the allegations of fraud related to the K1 Fund. Before he could be arrested again, he shot himself in the head and died a little later in the hospital.

Criminal proceedings

On November 16, 2010, the Würzburg public prosecutor presented the 630-page indictment against Helmut Kiener through Chief Public Prosecutor Dietrich Geuder. In it, Kiener is accused of having participated in 35 particularly serious cases of commercial fraud. He was also accused of forgery and tax evasion. With regard to his two fund companies, he is said to have deceived around 5,000 investors with profit statements, although the companies reported losses.

In the meantime, Kiener has been relocated from the Würzburg correctional facility to Straubing, as a document found indicated possible preparations for escape. In the course of the ongoing investigation, three other people from Kiener's business environment were arrested on November 11, 2010, including a tax advisor. Sums of money from Kiener's private assets amounting to 2.5 million euros were confiscated from accounts of Kiener's daughters, among others.

On March 2, 2011, the trial against Helmut Kiener and other accused began before the Commercial Criminal Chamber of the Würzburg Regional Court. In addition, various arrest orders were issued , which affected the entire property of Helmut Kiener in Germany and Austria, in order to secure claims from injured parties.

On July 21, 2011, Helmut Kiener was sentenced to a prison term of ten years and eight months by the fifth criminal chamber of the Würzburg regional court under the presiding judge Volker Zimmermann. The district court of Würzburg sentenced his co-defendant, who was appointed as fund manager, to a prison term of three years and nine months for aiding and abetting fraud. The chamber thus remained under the sentence demanded by the public prosecutor of almost 13 years or almost four years in prison. Both convicts accepted the sentence.

The court saw it as proven that by 2009 Kiener had defrauded almost 5,000 small investors and banks by around 300 million euros with manipulated funds. Part of the money was used to finance his luxurious lifestyle, part of which was given to fund brokers and banks as commission. The administration of the supposedly profitable funds also devoured large sums of money.

Kiener had made a confession during the trial, but denied that he was intent on fraud from the start. At the end of the proceedings, he announced that he wanted to take care of the reparation of the damage from now on.

In February 2013, charges were brought against Kiener and his American accomplice John Tausche in the USA. If convicted in the USA, Kiener will face up to 200 years imprisonment and a fine of $ 7.9 million, according to a statement from the Justice Department in Washington. The Philadelphia public prosecutor announced an extradition request, but German citizens will not be extradited to countries outside the EU.

In November 2012, John Tausche pleaded guilty to bank fraud and money laundering in one case each. He was sentenced to 4½ years in prison in September 2013 and repaid $ 115 million to Barclays Bank .

At the beginning of February 2014, Kiener's wife was fined 1,800 euros and two of his former lawyers were sentenced to seven months' imprisonment and a fine of around 14,000 euros in the second instance because they had money from a Swiss account in which Kiener had invested 250,000 euros had withdrawn to pay the defense. The court rated it as money laundering because, in the opinion of the public prosecutor and court, it would not have been granted to the lawyers, but to the injured party.

In July 2014, the BGH ruled in favor of Barclays Bank. The English bank did not have to be liable for investor losses caused by Kiener's fraud.

In 2017 Helmut Kiener was released from prison and the rest of his sentence was suspended.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hedge fund manager poses as a diplomat. In: Spiegel Online . November 7, 2009, accessed November 3, 2016 .
  2. ^ Renate Englert: hedge fund manager arrested. In: Main network . October 30, 2009, archived from the original on November 7, 2009 ; Retrieved November 3, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Karin Matussek: K1 Hedge Fund Manager Helmut Kiener Held Under Arrest. Update 3. In: Bloomberg News . October 29, 2009, archived from the original on November 12, 2012 ; accessed on November 3, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Confession of a hedge fund manager. In: FAZ.net . April 14, 2011, accessed November 3, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Markus Zydra: Falling for Paradise. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . May 17, 2010, accessed November 3, 2016 .
  6. ^ A b Sonia Shinde, Michael Maisch: How the Kiener system worked. In: Handelsblatt . October 29, 2009, accessed November 3, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Federal Supervisory Office forbids Helmut Kiener to administer the K1 fund. The search for the facilities of Helmut Kiener - investor lawyers estimate damage at 600 million euros / fund initiator still in custody, In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. October 31, 2009.
  8. ^ The search for the facilities of Helmut Kiener - ibid
  9. ↑ Treukapital Treuhandverwaltung ( Memento from November 2, 2008 in the web archive archive.today )
  10. ^ Liechtenstein Vienna Life ( Memento from October 17, 2007 in the web archive archive.today ) Vienna Insurance Group
  11. ↑ Markus Zydra: Not only banks on the net - up to 10,000 investors affected by alleged fund fraud. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. October 31, 2009.
  12. ↑ Investor lawyer Klaus Nieding ( Memento from September 4, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  13. ↑ Hedgeconcept financial sales
  14. ↑ Millions for Miami. In: Wirtschaftswoche . November 9, 2009, accessed November 3, 2016 .
  15. ↑ Billionaire and hedge fund founder arrested. In: Welt Online . October 29, 2009. Retrieved October 18, 2016 .
  16. ↑ Diplomatic status as a lifeline? In: Manager Magazin . November 7, 2009, accessed November 3, 2016 .
  17. ↑ The court rejects Kiener's appeal. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . November 10, 2009.
  18. ↑ Grant Thornton as liquidator for Fund K1 ( Memento of the original from October 2, 2010) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.gti.org
  19. ↑ Elizabeth Atzler, Jörn Petring: Kiener fund faces liquidation. In: Financial Times Germany . November 10, 2009, archived from the original on November 12, 2009 ; Retrieved November 3, 2016 .
  20. ↑ Manfred Schweidler: Hope for cheated investors of the millionaire fraudster Kiener. In: Main-Post . April 19, 2014, accessed November 3, 2016 .
  21. ↑ Manfred Schweidler: Fraudster Kiener in the Panama Papers. In: Main-Post . April 6, 2016, accessed October 18, 2016 .
  22. ↑ Hedge fund manager commits suicide. In: Welt Online . July 5, 2010, accessed November 3, 2016 .
  23. ↑ German fraudster with millions kills himself on Mallorca. In: Berliner Kurier . July 5, 2010, accessed August 14, 2015 .
  24. ↑ Manager suicide on Mallorca: Police find murder weapon. In: mallorcazeitung.es. July 20, 2010, accessed July 24, 2011 .
  25. ↑ Manfred Schweidler: Indictment against financial guru Kiener finished. In: Main-Post . November 16, 2010, accessed November 3, 2016 .
  26. ↑ Helmut Kiener under indictment. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 17th November 2010.
  27. ↑ Helmut Kiener is now the process. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. February 26, 2011.
  28. ↑ The Kiener case: reading takes hours. In: Main-Post . February 23, 2011, accessed November 3, 2016 .
  29. ↑ K1 Fund: Negotiation against Helmut Kiener begins on March 2nd, 2011! In: Deaf News magazine. February 12, 2011, archived from the original on October 12, 2012 ; Retrieved November 3, 2016 .
  30. ↑ Eleven years imprisonment for "Mini-Madoff". In: Welt Online . July 23, 2011, accessed November 3, 2016 .
  31. ↑ More than ten years imprisonment for millions of fraudsters Kiener. In: Zeit Online . July 22, 2011, accessed October 18, 2016 .
  32. ^ German investment fraudster Kiener also indicted in the USA. In: Handelsblatt . February 8, 2013, accessed November 3, 2016 .
  33. ↑ Precy Dumlao: Former hedge fund manager John Swap gets four and a half years in prison for fraud. In: Opalesque. September 24, 2013, accessed November 3, 2016 .
  34. ↑ Manfred Schweidler: Again "guilty" for Mrs. Kiener. In: Main-Post . February 3, 2014, accessed November 3, 2016 .
  35. ↑ Manfred Schweidler: BGH: Barclays does not have to be liable for Kiener's fraud. In: Main-Post . July 28, 2014, accessed October 18, 2016 .
  36. ↑ Claudia Wiggenbröker: The snowball king is back - ard.de. Retrieved November 23, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Kiener, Helmut
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German finance manager
DATE OF BIRTH June 19, 1959
PLACE OF BIRTH Wernberg-Koeblitz