135:, the K1 hedge fund collapsed. After their appointment in November 2009, liquidators Grant Thornton found that the two highly leveraged funds had a combined 421 million euros ($ 529 million) of liabilities, and have projected that prospects for the money are poor. In 2012 aggrieved investors filed suits against Barclays Bank. They accuse Barclays of not having communicated that the K1 funds were ponzi schemes when the funds still were solvent, although the bank knew better. An investigation was started by German federal authorities and BaFin, with the co-operation of the
215:
on
Frerichs close to his home in Mallorca. According to a police spokeswoman, Frerichs ran away from the police, and displayed a firearm. Police indicated that Frerichs fired the gun twice, shooting himself in the head. Police recovered him from the sea, and although taken by emergency ambulance to
102:
Although further warnings and prosecutions were issued by BaFin with regards the two K1 funds (K1 Global and K1 Invest, a hedge fund), investigations have shown that since 2006 K1 had subscribed a further 300 million euros of investment from both private German investors, as well as banks including
202:
Dieter
Frerichs was director for two of the K1 funds controlled by the K1 group founded by Kiener. Following the collapse of K1 and issue of the Interpol arrest warrant, on April 13, 2010, Frerichs was arrested at his home in
186:, his studies included “statistical chance theory,” which led to the K1 funds K1 Asset Allocation Method. Kiener claimed to have developed what K1 later described as a “semi- automatical allocation system” using
32:-based private investors, and latterly a series of global banks. With an estimated size of $ 378million/ÂŁ249million and $ 1Bn under management, it collapsed in 2008. It is estimated by administrators
64:, founded in 1996 via the Kiener Company as the K1 fund. As neither Kiener nor Frerichs held suitable licenses to run the fund, they appointed ex-banker Michael Smolek to run the fund under the
250:
444:
321:
216:
the
Hospital Son Dureta in Palma, he died after a few hours. Members of Frerich's family initially alleged that police officers had shot at Frerichs, however, the
374:
300:
396:
207:, Mallorca, and later conditionally released. In May, prosecutors in Germany sought to question Frerichs, and obtained an extradition order. On July 3,
167:, that monies were serially transferred between overseas bank accounts to make the whole fund look bigger and more stable than it actually was.
449:
120:
416:
183:
325:
132:
60:
Helmut Kiener, to establish a financial partnership. Together they persuaded 10,000 small investors and banks to invest in an
459:
140:
428:
MutmaĂźlicher
Deutscher Millionen-BetrĂĽger erschieĂźt sich auf Mallorca, in: Berlin Kurier - News Online vom 5. Juli 2010
212:
427:
351:
92:
21:
454:
272:
99:, Spain, marketed to German customers via a telephone line sited in a friend's flat in Munich.
224:
61:
218:
208:
204:
164:
65:
33:
438:
160:
152:
88:
80:
170:
Kiener was subsequently arrested and placed in detention in
October 2009, while an
104:
57:
41:
83:
for 100 investors. However, in 2001, after the German federal financial authority
156:
112:
190:
to help pick hedge-fund investments. He lived near
Germany's financial centre,
417:
Hedgefonds-Geschäftsführer begeht
Selbstmord, in: Welt Online vom 5. Juli 2010
187:
25:
191:
148:
108:
79:
The business prospered, and by 1999 Kiener claimed to have made 13 million
397:"K1 Hedge Fund Manager Frerichs Committed Suicide, German Prosecutors Say"
174:-authorised arrest warrant was issued for Frerichs on February 23, 2010.
171:
116:
96:
228:
reported the death as an "apparent suicide" and "suicide" respectively.
159:. Authorities presently suspect that much like the ponzi-schemes run by
29:
87:
prohibited further investment in the fund, the company split into two
144:
73:
123:. K1 claimed a return on its investments of 825% from 1996 to 2008.
350:
David Scheer, Josh
Fineman and Karin Matussek (October 28, 2009).
84:
53:
37:
36:
that liquidated funds able to be returned to investors are zero.
352:"K1 Hedge Fund Probed as Barclays, JPMorgan Face Loss (Update2)"
136:
251:"Barclays among losers amid fraud inquiry at German fund"
143:, and regulatory bodies in the British Virgin Islands,
56:
in the early 1990s, he contacted his friend, qualified
95:. However, actual control was via Frerichs office in
52:
After Dieter
Frerichs relocated back to Germany from
345:
343:
28:, initially marketed to and invested in by mainly
91:named K1 and K1 Global Investments, based in the
375:"Helmut Kiener of German hedge fund K1 arrested"
322:"K1/Kiener Funds: Lawsuit against Barclays Bank"
301:"Investigation into K1 hedge fund hit by death"
395:Jann Bettinga and Charles Penty (2010-07-06).
294:
292:
271:David Jolly and Raphael Minder (2010-07-05).
244:
242:
240:
8:
249:Ebrahimi, Helia; Quinn, James (2010-10-28).
40:is suspected by German regulators to be a
445:Companies of the British Virgin Islands
273:"Suspect in Fraud at K1 Group Has Died"
236:
182:Helmut Kiener claims while studying at
7:
68:-registered private limited company
121:Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank International
14:
299:Armitstead, Louise (2010-07-06).
184:Johann Wolfgang Goethe University
373:Ebrahimi, Helia (2009-10-29).
1:
141:Financial Services Authority
324:. Winheller. Archived from
476:
133:2007–2008 financial crisis
127:Collapse and investigation
450:Pyramid and Ponzi schemes
377:. London: Daily Telegraph
303:. London: Daily Telegraph
253:. London: Daily Telegraph
139:, the United Kingdom's
211:attempted to serve an
93:British Virgin Islands
22:British Virgin Islands
460:Defunct hedge funds
328:on 17 December 2012
213:extradition warrant
165:R. Allen Stanford
467:
430:
425:
419:
414:
408:
407:
405:
404:
392:
386:
385:
383:
382:
370:
364:
363:
361:
359:
347:
338:
337:
335:
333:
318:
312:
311:
309:
308:
296:
287:
286:
284:
283:
268:
262:
261:
259:
258:
246:
475:
474:
470:
469:
468:
466:
465:
464:
435:
434:
433:
426:
422:
415:
411:
402:
400:
394:
393:
389:
380:
378:
372:
371:
367:
357:
355:
349:
348:
341:
331:
329:
320:
319:
315:
306:
304:
298:
297:
290:
281:
279:
270:
269:
265:
256:
254:
248:
247:
238:
234:
225:Daily Telegraph
200:
198:Dieter Frerichs
180:
129:
89:shell companies
62:investment fund
50:
12:
11:
5:
473:
471:
463:
462:
457:
452:
447:
437:
436:
432:
431:
420:
409:
387:
365:
339:
313:
288:
277:New York Times
263:
235:
233:
230:
219:New York Times
209:Spanish police
199:
196:
179:
176:
128:
125:
81:Deutsche Marks
66:United Kingdom
49:
46:
34:Grant Thornton
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
472:
461:
458:
456:
453:
451:
448:
446:
443:
442:
440:
429:
424:
421:
418:
413:
410:
398:
391:
388:
376:
369:
366:
353:
346:
344:
340:
327:
323:
317:
314:
302:
295:
293:
289:
278:
274:
267:
264:
252:
245:
243:
241:
237:
231:
229:
227:
226:
221:
220:
214:
210:
206:
197:
195:
193:
189:
185:
178:Helmut Kiener
177:
175:
173:
168:
166:
162:
161:Bernie Madoff
158:
154:
153:Liechtenstein
150:
146:
142:
138:
134:
126:
124:
122:
118:
114:
110:
107:(acquired by
106:
100:
98:
94:
90:
86:
82:
77:
75:
71:
67:
63:
59:
55:
47:
45:
43:
39:
35:
31:
27:
23:
19:
423:
412:
401:. Retrieved
390:
379:. Retrieved
368:
356:. Retrieved
330:. Retrieved
326:the original
316:
305:. Retrieved
280:. Retrieved
276:
266:
255:. Retrieved
223:
217:
201:
181:
169:
130:
105:Bear Stearns
101:
78:
69:
58:psychologist
51:
42:ponzi scheme
17:
15:
455:Hedge funds
399:. Bloomberg
354:. Bloomberg
157:Switzerland
131:During the
113:BNP Paribas
439:Categories
403:2010-07-07
381:2010-07-07
307:2010-07-07
282:2010-07-07
257:2010-07-07
232:References
188:statistics
26:hedge fund
192:Frankfurt
149:Hong Kong
109:JP Morgan
70:Nitro Ltd
222:and the
172:Interpol
117:Barclays
97:Mallorca
358:July 6,
48:History
18:K1 fund
332:6 June
145:France
74:London
30:German
24:based
20:was a
205:Palma
85:BaFin
72:from
54:Spain
38:BaFin
360:2010
334:2012
163:and
155:and
119:and
16:The
137:FBI
111:),
441::
342:^
291:^
275:.
239:^
194:.
151:,
147:,
115:,
76:.
44:.
406:.
384:.
362:.
336:.
310:.
285:.
260:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.