THE provisional liquidators of the company run by crook Francois de Dietrich are asking anyone who had dealings with the firm to contact them with details of their transactions.
The Ballybofey-based businessman swindled cash out of 200 people in Co Donegal, often over dinner at his fancy Bastille Bistro in Letterkenny.
Most of those investors have not come forward.
De Dietrich is wanted by police after absconding following his failure to divulge details of his assets to the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
He is now believed to have stashed millions of Euro in bank accounts in Switzerland, outside the European Union. There are unconfirmed reports he may also be in hiding in the Alpine state, out of the reach of an EU-wide warrant.
The crook was sentenced to an 18-month prison sentence in his absence after he failed to comply with a Northern High Court order obtained by the FSA ordering him to give, amongst other information, details of where his assets were held.
We understand the FSA know about the secret Swiss accounts and that was the reason for the application for the location of his assets outside the EU.
The FSA had earlier obtained a High Court order restraining any potential unauthorised activity and freezing £20,223,485 assets of Francois de Dietrich and ETIC Solutions Ltd (ETIC).
In Dublin, the High Court has frozen almost €2m in the AIB in Ballybofey.
Paul Rooney and Dan Schwarzman, both licenced Insolvency Practioners of Price Waterhouse Coopers, were appointed joint liquidators of ETIC last month.
They have appealed to “all persons who had dealings with ETIC Solutions Ltd or the director Francois de Dietrich (Consumers) to contact us with details of their transactions.”
The order by the High Court in Northern Ireland allows the FSA to preserve the funds and other assets held by de Dietrich and/or ETIC until the court decides whether he has broken the law.
The court will also decide how much money, if any, should be returned to investors and other creditors.
Meanwhile, the FSA is continuing its investigation into the activities of de Dietrich and ETIC.
Any investors in this scheme should contact the FSA either call the Contact Centre on 00 44 845 606 1234 or via email on consumer.queries@fsa.gov.uk.
With the court orders in place, de Dietrich and ETIC may not accept money from, or pay money to, any person as part of the ETIC business. This includes a restriction on paying out funds to investors.
He has breached that order on several occasions.
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