Florian Homm
Florian Homm Jürgen Wilhelm ( born October 7, 1959 in Oberursel ) is a German stock exchange speculator and hedge fund manager.
Life
Florian Homm grew up as the son of a middle crafts entrepreneur in the Hessian town of Bad Homburg. His great- uncle was the businessman Josef Neckermann. After studying at Harvard University, where he graduated with a Master of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, Homm started its operations in the U.S. financial industry at Merrill Lynch, after which he was with the U.S. fund provider Fidelity Investments, the Swiss private bank Julius Baer and the U.S. asset manager Tweedy Browne.
In 1993 he started his own business and founded the American Kevin Devine, which specializes in small business investment company Value Management & Research AG ( VMR), with whom he later a series of unsuccessful companies - such as " Toysinternational.com " or " ComTelco " - attached to Internet exchanges such as Frankfurt's Neuer Markt. First accusations began circulating Homm influencing through public statements and analysis on corporate courses, and then with his company to profit from it as an investor. The following stock market boom made him rich. After the planned integration into the little later insolvent company Knorr Capital failed, leaving Homm VMR. VMR was worth 500 million euros in 2000, collapsed two years later with the dot-com bubble. In 2000, at the height of the bubble, confirmed the doctors to the then 40 -year-old multiple sclerosis, a disease from which his sister died in 2005.
At the beginning of the new millennium he founded in Los Angeles hedge fund Absolute Capital Management Holdings Ltd.. (ACM ) - Sitting on the British offshore tax haven Cayman Islands - with whom he in the unregulated Alternative Investment Market Segment of the London Stock Exchange introduced in 2006. In his most successful period, he managed with ACM three billion euros in client assets and thus made it into the 300 richest Germans. He was designated by the Investment Alternative Investment News newspaper as a Hedge Fund Leader of the Year.
Homm made then with his demand for splitting Freenet stir. He participated with ACM on travel group TUI and the football club Borussia Dortmund. Especially with Borussia Dortmund, he made a commitment of 20 million euros for the salvation of the association, presided with an associated with the payment declaration as well as the disempowerment of the leadership of a BVB. In his biography Homm reported that he had actually to do with the BVB money and want to sell it to two Russian oligarchs. When he, contrary to his habit, after his entry undertook a review of the company, he noticed how badly it went to the club and decided to save him, since the losses they could not afford.
Escape
In the summer of 2007, often investing in illiquid securities ACM came under pressure. On the night of September 18, 2007 Homm went into hiding. His successor at the ACM fund accused him of that many " investments " would have a much lower value than reported. The shares of the ACM lost to June 2008, around 93 percent of their value. It has been suggested that he was more than 150 million euros on the run. When ACM was taken in April 2009 from the stock market, the assets had shrunk by about $ 3 billion to 2.3 million.
On 25 February 2011, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought civil action against Florian Homm and Todd M. Ficeto. Likewise was the U.S. drug police (DEA ) in search of Homm, because she suspected that he could be involved in money laundering transactions with the drug cartels in South America.
According to a private investigator deceived depositors have placed a bounty of 1.5 million euros on Homm. Investigators were various signs for, among other things, has been suggested Homm live in Venezuela near Caracas, because a few months before his escape, he was shot in Caracas. Officially, hijackers had tried to steal his clock. Probably Homm had then already prepared his escape. A subsequent stay in the Caribbean was suspected. Other suspected Homm in Liberia, as he was " cultural attaché of Liberia " at the Embassy in Paris by accredited diplomatic passport at UNESCO.
In August 2012, it was announced that the investigators should determine the whereabouts of Homm, had stopped the practice first. One of the private investigator was asked to suspend its investigation work immediately, because its principals allegedly severely threatened by unknown persons. It had been made clear to them that these threats was related to their investigative activities in terms of Homm.
In connection with a planned book release (title: bounty hunting ), whose sales proceeds Homm the Liberia Renaissance Foundation - a Swiss foundation for Liberian children - want to donate, Florian Homm described in several interviews with the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the star and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung from November 7, 2012 his rise, fall, and the hoped-for new beginning. On the same day the Financial Times Germany and the Business Week published an interview in which he rejected most allegations against him. In response to the exposed to him bounty Spiegel Online had published a recorded by Florian Homm video in which Homm comments on the exposed upon him bounty. Bild am Sonntag reported on December 10, citing " Homms environment " that Homm wishes to participate in the processes in the United States.
Parallel to the reporting of the New York Times and the Financial Times, in the Homm talked about his return, he published his book in English ( Title: Rogue Financier ). His autobiography reached in Germany, meanwhile, in week 47 27th place on the bestseller list of mirrors, number 11 in the bestsellers list in Manager Magazin 01 /2013 and was among the top 40 of the annual best-selling business book bestseller list in 2012 by Manager Magazin.
On March 3, 2013 Homm had in common with the Deputy Chairman left - Sahra Wagenknecht an appearance in the ZDF talk show Peter Hahne ( Title: Euro crisis - Finanzhai meets Socialist ) in Berlin and was able to leave the studio unmolested.
Arrest and extradition custody in Italy
At noon on March 8, 2013 arrested the Italian police, following a tip from objective investigators of the FBI, the fugitives in the Picture Gallery Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. He was there in the company of his wife divorced him and one of his sons. Two days before his arrest, on March 6, 2013, the U.S. federal police had at the relevant U.S. federal court in Los Angeles issued an arrest warrant against Homm obtained to in Italy, after his planned arrest may apply for his extradition at the local judicial authorities. Homm had traveled on 6 March from Munich by train to Italy. The accusation of judicial authorities in Los Angeles is on conspiracy and securities fraud. Florian Homm is in prison of Pisa in custody pending extradition. He was to enable a more adequate health care, brought from Florence to a prison in Pisa. In the Federal Republic of Germany is not detected against Florian Homm.
The Italian Court of Appeal Court of Cassation in Rome has decided on January 9, 2014, the delivery of the allegedly affected by multiple sclerosis financial investor. Jailed in Italy Florian Homm can be extradited to the United States. The Court of Appeal decision requires the approval of the Italian Ministry of Justice. The defense of Homm examining the possibility of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR ) to call for violation of human rights. Thus, no deferment of delivery would be achieved.
As a hedge fund manager Homm should have given investors in the ACM hedge fund losses of $ 200 million and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires him around 56 million dollars ( 44 million euros ). The penalties, on conviction in the U.S., could be prison sentence of up to 225 years.
Private
- Homm is a former German youth international basketball. In the mid-1980s he was active in the first basketball league for the Osnabrück Club BC Giants.
- Homm founded the charitable organization Maximum Impact Medicine, based in Ireland, the combating of diseases in third world countries is devoted to.
Awards
- Honorary Doctorate ( Dr. hc ) of the United Methodist University in Monrovia, the second largest University of Liberia.