Brit (70) sues Julius Baer: “I’ve had my luck”

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This is a tragic farewell letter. It’s about guilt and redemption. “I gambled but failed,” writes a financial advisor in Brussels to his wife. Then he kills himself.

The portfolio manager even admits in his latest letter that he embezzled money from his mother-in-law to keep Spatial View afloat. The English term for three-dimensional vision refers to a company in Canada whose returns must skyrocket: with 3D technology.

Anne Kearns (70) thought he was a good investment until the man killed himself in Brussels shortly before Christmas 2015. The Englishman had trusted him and commissioned him to take care of his fortune, which was about $1.2 million at the time.

It was only through suicide that he learned that he was the victim of a scammer and his network in Switzerland. The case will be heard in the Zurich District Court on Tuesday. Kearns is suing Bank Julius Baer for approximately CHF 1.8 million plus interest. Because the transaction took place through a deposit at ING Bank in Lausanne VD. And it’s been owned by Julius Baer since 2010.

Instead of Swiss precision, there was a cousin economy.”

Kearns tells SonntagsBlick that he only wants to invest $300,000 in the startup in Canada. He tried to wear the rest with confidence. In fact, much more of their money flowed – without consultation and with a forged signature: “I trusted the Swiss banking system. Instead of Swiss precision, it was a cousin economy.”

The bank clerk, who was in charge at ING Bank in Lausanne at the time, was related by marriage to the general manager of Spatial View. Kearns: “It’s a clear conflict of interest. Still, the payments wavered. Something like this should never have happened to the bank.”

On the top of it. In 2008, the psychotherapist sold his London flat for CHF 1.6 million.

On the advice of the Brussels portfolio manager, he transferred the money to the company account in Switzerland, which was managed by the Lausanne banker. From there, the amount was supposed to be forwarded to him, but it never went to his custodian: “Instead, some of the money went to Jersey and some to Germany,” says Kearns. “My fortune has been cut. It couldn’t have flown through the air!”

Kearns has a key question for Julius Baer: “How did no one notice that the signature was fake?” A report commissioned by Kearns states that there is “strong evidence” that the signatures have been forged several times.

No money for lawyers

Kearns has been fighting for his fortune for years. He now lives in southwestern France with his wife Penelope (79). “We’re not doing well. My wife needs care and I’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer. We need the money.”

He can’t afford lawyers. That’s why he got involved in litigation financing. If his lawyers are right in court, he will have to give up some of the money he earned.

Anne Kearns was convinced: “The bank Julius Baer knew that the bankers were abusing their office or their compliance procedures didn’t work. Something like this shouldn’t happen to a Swiss bank.”

So far, criminal charges have led to nothing. Now he prefers to file a civil suit before the Zurich District Court.

Bank Julius Baer declined to comment on the case. The presumption of innocence applies to the bankers involved.

Source :Blick