K1 Hedge Fund Founder Kiener’s Fraud Trial to Start in March
K1 Group hedge fund founder Helmut Kiener was ordered to stand trial over an alleged Ponzi scheme that saddled investors and banks, including Barclays Plc and BNP Paribas SA, with 345 million euros ($473 million) in losses.
A German court allowed the charges to go to trial, Dietrich Geuder, spokesman for the Prosecutors’ Office in Wuerzburg, Germany, said in an interview today. The trial is scheduled to start March 2 at the Wuerzburg Regional Court.
Kiener was charged in November with tax evasion, 35 counts of aggravated fraud and 86 counts of forgery. Nearly 5,000 private investors in the K1 Global Ltd. and K1 Invest Ltd. funds lost money, according to prosecutors.
Lutz Libbertz, Kiener’s lawyer, declined to comment, a spokeswoman for the attorney said today. Kiener has denied the allegations.
To contact the reporter on this story: Karin Matussek in Berlin at kmatussek@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@Bloomberg.net.
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