Aus Montreux heraus sei ein Hedgefonds–Manager in einen riesigen Anlageschwindel à la Madoff verwickelt. Das behaupten Beamte in den USA und reichten Klage ein.
Von Christian Bütikofer
Mindestens 323 Millionen Dollar an «falschen Gewinnen» («false profits») habe der Hedgefonds-Manager Steve Goran Stevanovich generiert. So steht es in einer Klageschrift vor dem Insolvenzgericht Minnesota, USA.
Der Amerikaner Stevanovich ist von Montreux aus aktiv. Er sei in den Anlagebetrugsfall des Amerikaners Tom Petters verwickelt, schreibt der für den Fall zuständige staatlich eingesetzte Liquidator.
Petters Firmengeflecht wurde in Zwangsliquidation gesetzt, nach dem so genannten «Chapter 11»-Paragrafen. Der eingesetzte Liquidator ist auf der Suche nach mehreren Milliarden Dollar.
Petters zog seit 1993 ein ähnliches Betrugsmodell auf, wie es Madoff jahrelang tat – Petters hat einen Gesamtschaden von über 3 Milliarden Dollar angerichtet. Insgesamt sollen über sein Firmengeflecht um die 40 Milliarden Dollar gewaschen worden sein.
Im Zuge der Ermittlungen wurde Petters diesen April zu 50 Jahren Haft verurteilt.
Spuren führen an den Genfersee
Die Klage gegen Petters Geschäftspartner Stevanovich wurde am Freitag hinterlegt und liegt der «Aargauer Zeitung» vor. Darin wird Stevanovich «aktiver und direkter» Verwicklung in den Millionenschwindel beschuldigt.
Recherchen zeigen: Stevanovich gründete im Herbst 2003 in Montreux am Genfersee zusammen mit seinem langjährigen Geschäftspartner Christian Valentini das Investment-Vehikel «Westford Sarl», das drei Jahre später mit der Fondsgesellschaft «SGS Asset Management Sarl» fusionierte.
An der gleichen Adresse war auch seine «Epsilon Investment Management» anzutreffen.
Stevanovich antwortete einem amerikanischen Gericht in einem anderen Fall noch während diesem August aus Montreux.
In den Dokumenten ist ersichtlich, dass die Epsilon Management aus Montreux heraus operierte, auch wenn sie auf einer Offshore-Insel ihren Sitz hatte.
Weiter zeigen der «Aargauer Zeitung» vorliegende Akten, dass der ehemalige Epsilon-Manager B. im Zuge der Petters-Verfahren erstinstanzlich wegen Überweisungsbetrugs zu 60 Monaten Gefängnis verurteilt wurde.
Milliarden-Transfers getätigt
Stevanovichs Firmen verfügten über Offshore-Parallelgesellschaften auf den Kaimaninseln, Delaware, den Britischen Jungferninseln sowie St. Kitts und Nevis.
Das Westford-Konstrukt wird in der Klage als so genannter «Feeder Fund» bezeichnet: Über ihn wurden bei Opfern Gelder eingesammelt und dann in die Gesellschaften des Anlagebtrügers Tom Petters investiert.
Stevanovich sei für Transfers von mindestens 3 Milliarden Dollar verwantwortlich gewesen und habe so Millionen Dollar eingestrichen. Damit habe er seinem extravaganten Lebensstil gefrönt und in Montreux in einer luxuriösen Villa gehaust.
Universität Millionen gespendet
Stevanovich betätigte sich auch als grosszügiger Gönner. So spendete er seiner Alma Mater, der Universität Chicago, 7 Millionen Dollar. Darauf wurde ein Insitut nach ihm benannt, heute sitzt er dort auch im Universitätsrat.
Anwalt dementiert
Die Anschuldigungen in der Klageschrift dementiert Stevanovichs Anwalt gegenüber der «Aargauer Zeitung» vehement. Die Klage sei in jeder Hinsicht falsch und entbehrte jeder Grundlage.
Stevanovich sei nicht Profiteur von Petters Millionen-Betrug gewesen sondern im Gegenteil ein Opfer.
Zum Zeitpunkt der Investitionen in Petters Fonds habe man keinerlei Anhaltspunkte gehabt, dass sie betrügerisch verwaltet würden. Wie auch die staatlichen Regulierungsbehörden sei man getäuscht worden.
Die Geschäfte mit Petters seien beendet worden, 18 Monate bevor er aufflog. Das Vorgehen des klagenden Liquidators würde statt Geschädigten nützen Investoren schädigen und die wirklichen Täter schützen.
Anmerkung: Petters tätigte einen Anlagebetrug nach dem klassischen so genannten «Ponzi-Modell», auch Madoffs Betrügereien entsprachen dem «Ponzi-Scheme». Fast alle Schäden in dieser Höhe werden nach diesem fast 100-jährigen Betrugsmodell verursacht.
© Aargauer Zeitung / MLZ; 14.10.2010; © Neue Luzerner Zeitung; 14.10.2010
http://medicalwhistleblower.blogspot.com/
Frank Vennes Jr. , Teen Challenge, Tom Petters Ponzi Scheme and former US Attorney Scott Bloch
Teen Challenge runs a facility in Switzerland, Canada, Britian, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand and Australia, and the Netherlands.
Teen Challenge runs facilities in Nauru, Philippines, Bahamas, and in 80 countries worldwide – In total 1060 facilities worldwide.
Assemblies of God church runs their own credit union out of Missouri, USA and grants personal bank accounts to ex convicts that embrace their religious beliefs and want to do prison fellowship ministries.
Teen Challenge hires ex-cons to run facilities as Directors not just in the USA but worldwide. Reverends in the Teen Challenge, Assemblies of God have come from criminal backgrounds including criminal convictions for money laundering, drug trafficking, and financial fraud.
Teen Challenge Received Money from Peters Company Ponzi Scheme
Frank Vennes Jr., born-again ex con who served on the board of Teen Challenge MN, was a fraudster and money launderer. According to a federal search warrant affidavit, Vennes helped convince five investors to put $1.2 billion into Petters’s companies, which won Vennes more than $28 million in commissions. Previously Frank Vennes Jr. had spent five years in prison for charges of illegally selling a firearm, using a phone to distribute cocaine, and money laundering, but claimed to be rehabilitated after finding God. Frank Vennes found guidance from evangelical Christian ministry while in prison and then upon leaving prison found support from the Assemblies of God run residential treatment facility Teen Challenge in Minnesota. The Directors of Teen Challenge MN knew about his previous convictions for money laundering, drug dealing and gun running but they still placed him in charge of financial affairs for Teen Challenge MN and for fund raising activities. Congressman Michele Bachmann had received many thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Frank Vennes, his family and lawyer/lobbyist G. Craig Howse. In a letter to the Office of Pardon Attorney dated Dec. 10, 2007, a year after she was elected, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann wrote requesting a presidential pardon for Frank Vennes Jr., she stated in that letter to then President George W. Bush that Fidelis Foundation was “backed” by Frank Vennes Jr. and Bachmann stated that a Presidential pardon of Vennes would be “good for society”.:
“As a U.S. Representative, I am confident of Mr. Vennes’ successful rehabilitation and that a pardon will be good for the neediest of society,” Bachmann wrote. “Mr. Vennes is seeking a pardon so that he may be further used to help others. As I know from personal experience, Mr. Vennes has used his business position and success to fund hundreds of nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping the neediest in our society. The Fidelis Foundation, backed by Mr. Vennes, has directed over $10.7 million in total gifts in the last three years, and the Fidelis Foundation has ranked #6, #9 and #7 as the largest grant-making foundation in Minnesota over the past three years.”
The appearance of Vennes’ success was a mask for a tangled financial web of lies. As a member of the Teen Challenge board as well as the financial committee, Frank Vennes reviewed the investment proposal with Petters’ business. Following a federal investigation, by Julio La Rosa, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the St. Paul IRS field office, Petters was convicted by a jury of masterminding a scheme that cost investors more than $3.5 billion. Frank Vennes was a broker for investors in Petters’ companies. Petters functioned as a venture capitalist and by attracting investment from hedge funds and individuals. Petters acquired Sun Country Airlines and Polaroid Corporation which are now in bankruptcy. Pretending they were selling real items such as electronic equipment, Petters and his colleagues took investors money for their own gain.. In 2009 Thomas Petters was found guilty, in front of U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle, on all 20 counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy and money laundering.
Specifically, Thomas Petters was found guilty on the following charges:
10 counts of wire fraud
3 counts of mail fraud
1 count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud
1 count of conspiracy to commit money laundering
5 five counts of money laundering.
Teen Challenge MN asserted the money invested in Petters Co. was given through a single contributor,the Fidelis Foundation. Fidelis Foundation is a public charity that acts as an investment agent on behalf of other public charities and nonprofits, including Teen Challenge. The Fidelis Foundation claims it is facing losses in the bankruptcy case of up to $27.6 million in Petters Co. notes. Fidelis Foundation, a Minnesota religious charity, had $27.6 million invested in eight promissory notes from Petters Co. backed by fictitious purchase orders. The Fidelis Foundation investment debt originally came from loans from the Harvest Foundation. The Harvest Foundation was the entity that initially loaned Frank Vennes $10,500,000 in 2001 and 2002.
Frank Vennes Jr. was a major financial contributor to Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann quickly distanced herself and withdrew the letter of support for a presidential pardon she had written for Vennes claiming that she may have too hastily accepted his claims of redemption. But she was not the only politican to receive money from Frank Vennes. Minnesota politicians, who were scrambling to jettison campaign cash donated by those involved in the fraud scheme, included Norm Coleman, Amy Klobuchar, Tim Pawlenty, Jim Oberstar, and Elwyn Tinkenberg.
Thomas Petters had major holdings in Sun Country Airlines, Polaroid and other companies. As the criminal case developed, several of Petters’ companies were put into receivership and 10 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
http://medicalwhistleblower.blogspot.com/
No More Amnesty for Scott Bloch – Judge rules he will spend 1 month in Jail
Judge Deborah A. Robinson denied Scott Bloch’s motion to reconsider his guilty plea on the criminal contempt of Congress case USA v Scott Bloch. Scott Bloch was the former Special Counsel for the Office of Special Counsel and dismissed hundreds of whistleblower cases without investigation. Scott Bloch in the face of a federal investigation asked Geeks on Call to wipe his computer clean of all digital files thus destroying evidence that the FBI was seeking in the US Congressional investigation. On March 30, 2011 Scott Bloch was sentenced to one month in prison by a D.C. federal court. The former Bush administration head of the Office of Special Counsel, Bloch had pleaded guilty in connection with his use of ‘Geeks On Call’ to scrub his government computer but then when realizing he would be facing mandatory jail time, he tried to withdraw his guilty plea. DC District Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson instead decided that Scott Bloch would spend time in jail. In addition to the prison time, Bloch was sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation and 200 hours community service. Scott Bloch’s attorney indicated that he would be filing a motion for a stay of the decision pending appeal.
http://medicalwhistleblower.blogspot.com/
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2010/lr21697.htm
See U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 21697 / October 18, 2010
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Thomas J. Petters, Gregory M. Bell and Lancelot Investment Management LLC, Defendants, and Inna Goldman, Inna Goldman Revocable Trust, Asia Trust Ltd., Blue Sky Trust, and Gregory Bell Revocable Trust, Relief Defendants, Civil Action No. 09 SC 1750 ADM/JSM (D. Minn.) http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2010/lr21697.htm
Please be aware that Scott Bloch was the former Special Counsel for the Office of Special Counsel – He was removed from his office and has now been found guilty of criminal contempt of the US Congress.
Scott Bloch will spend 1 month in Jail
http://medicalwhistleblower.blogspot.com/2011/03/scott-bloch-will-spend-1-month-in-jail.html
Scott J. Bloch – Whistleblower Retaliation and Hatch Act Violations
http://medicalwhistleblower.blogspot.com/2011/03/scott-j-bloch-whistleblower-retaliation.html
Scott Bloch’s Plea Agreement
http://legaltimes.typepad.com/files/dqu29000.pdf
Judge denies Scott Bloch’s right to appeal sentencing verdict 3-29-11
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/documents/2011/03/judge-denies-scott-blochs-request-to-appeal-sentencing-in-geeks-on-call-case.php?page=1
Judges order is stayed pending appeal in Scott Bloch case March 10, 2011
http://legaltimes.typepad.com/files/robinson_order.pdf
Bloch’s DOJ press release 4-27-10
http://legaltimes.typepad.com/files/bloch-press-release-4-27-10.pdf
Whistleblowers request special prosecutor in Scott Bloch case
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/documents/2011/02/an-open-letter-from-the-community-of-whistleblowers-to-attorney-general-eric-holder.php?page=1
Check out the connection between The Albert Bloch Foundation and Scott Bloch. Albert Bloch was Scott Bloch’s grandfather, who was a German expressionist painter. Art work was found with Frank Vennes fraud.