Investors in Ruvercap Investments have lodged a criminal complaint in Zurich against the asset manager as well as as well its co-founders, finews.com has learned.
Investors are seeking to press criminal charges against Ruvercap Investment as well as co-founders M. C. and J. T. in Zurich, a source familiar with the move told finews.com on Friday. The complaint against the private debt boutique follows the alleged disappearance of several hundred million in funds, as finews.com reported.
Several investors have spent recent months gathering evidence which they have recently handed over to a prosecutor in Zurich, who would not comment. It is up to the prosecutor whether to open a formal investigation, which could lead to criminal charges.
Swiss Bank Pushes Ahead
The main investor behind the move is Fribourg's cantonal bank, or FKB, the person told finews.com. The local government-backed lender, which wasn't available for comment, had invested in the fund. The Swiss bank is also representing a number of other investors in French-speaking Switzerland, including independent asset managers and family offices.
Ruvercap's Ireland-based funds were frozen last year after irregularities in reporting their net asset value. Enticed by the prospect of two to three percent return in a negative interest rate environment, investors poured as much as 700 million Swiss francs ($741 million) into funds managed by the boutique. A new manager is attempting to track back how much the portfolios are now worth.
Second Criminal Probe
The criminal probe would be the second, after Zug's prosecutor began investigating five people last month. One of the people under investigation is Thomas Huber, a former supervisor at Graubuenden's cantonal bank who was also on the board of Batagon, a Zug-based vehicle that worked with Ruvercap.
Last year, M. C. and J. T. set up a new company with virtually the same name – Ruvercap AG – in a bid to keep the business model going. The company has been dissolved since then and employees let go.
