With questionable promises swindled over and over again: In 2017, Melinda K., as the watcher called her, sold worthless shares of Amvac to nearly 1,000 investors for 55 million francs.
The Zug Criminal Court ruled in one of the largest fraud cases in the canton. The founder of pharmaceutical company Amvac convicted the 50-year-old Hungarian of commercial fraud and forgery. He will be sentenced to 6.5 years in prison.
Three other defendants in the fraud case were also sentenced to prison terms, according to the verdict released Friday.
Prosecutors accused the defendants of selling shares of the worthless company Amvac to 980 investors through aggressive telemarketing between 2012 and 2015. Intermediaries took 60 percent of this, the rest went to the main defendant.
For the court, there is no doubt that he was the driving force behind stock sales. For a long period of about three and a half years, he used the proceeds from the sales ruthlessly and without hesitation.
Luxury vehicles seized
His criminal energy is high and persistent, his motivation is selfish: with the 17.5 million Swiss francs he stole, he financed a luxurious lifestyle. The court confiscated the defendants’ property, as well as a Bentley, Mercedes and Volvo.
Living in Switzerland since 2006, the landlady managed the sale of the shares and created the templates for the purchase agreement. With these, he gave the impression that the money from the sales would flow to society, especially research and development.
The court denied any responsibility for the victims. Had the injured parties asked Amvac directly, they would have ended up with one of the defendants “who, of course, would not have given them a clear answer.”
The public prosecutor demanded seven years in prison for the main defendant and acquittal for the defense. The court slightly reduced the sentence, partly because the proceedings were too long.
No activity ban
Both stock brokers need to go to jail. The court found him guilty of assisting in commercial fraud. A 50-year-old Swiss was sentenced to four years and six months in prison, while a 35-year-old Swiss was sentenced to three years, who had to shoot someone.
Their work was not banned, as the crimes were committed a long time ago and the two of them have behaved well ever since.
The court sentenced the 62-year-old German girl to the lightest. He served as Amvac’s chairman of the board and also pleaded guilty to complicity in commercial fraud, for which he was sentenced to two years’ probationary sentence.
He was the only one who did not refuse to testify in court. He explained that he believes in the company and its products. This was not on the wrong track with his vaccine. You had to assume that the company had value.
The four convicts have to pay the injured parties between several thousand and one million francs. Decisions are not final. Four suspects and several special prosecutors appealed. (SDA)
Amvac, Nicstic, Ipco, Max Entertainment: These are just the names of a few companies that have robbed thousands of individual investors in recent years. Aggressive sellers allegedly offered attractive stocks of these companies to real people over the phone. Or, as in the case of Ipco, they push them into the pyramid scheme. In the Amvac lawsuit, shares were negotiated by Global Equity Associates and Salfried AG. Brokers cut about half of the selling price, but often act as representatives of companies whose shares they sell over the phone. “There’s a simple rule for private investors,” says Zurich lawyer Reto Wildeisen: “Never buy! Whatever the salesperson promises you over the phone is pretty risky and often misleading. No matter how good, don’t get caught up in the conversation, hang up!”
Amvac, Nicstic, Ipco, Max Entertainment: These are just the names of a few companies that have robbed thousands of individual investors in recent years. Aggressive sellers allegedly offered attractive stocks of these companies to real people over the phone. Or, as in the case of Ipco, they push them into the pyramid scheme. In the Amvac lawsuit, shares were negotiated by Global Equity Associates and Salfried AG. Brokers cut about half of the selling price, but often act as representatives of companies whose shares they sell over the phone. “There’s a simple rule for private investors,” says Zurich lawyer Reto Wildeisen: “Never buy! Whatever the salesperson promises you over the phone is pretty risky and often misleading. No matter how good, don’t get caught up in the conversation, hang up!”