Martin Vorderwülbecke (right) was busy at a trade show in Australia in November, where he was presented with technology to help raise cattle. He was introduced as a visitor from Paraguay. (Photo: beefcentral.com)Necenzurirano | 6 March 2020
Did the missing millions of Adria end up in South America?
by Tomaž Modic / Vesna Vuković
(Note: translated from the original with Google)
New companies have sprung up overnight in the wake of the German fund 4K Invest, which financially drained and eventually sank Adria Airways. We were looking for leads for projects where money from a bankrupt Slovenian airline could also end up.
The companies through which the German group 4K Invest controlled Adria Airways began to shut down one after another after the collapse of our largest airline. The fund, which is said to have more than 20 years of experience and almost 200 successful cases of company restructuring, literally disappeared from the business registers of several countries and from the Internet in just a few weeks.
The German owners therefore erased all traces behind them. Probably also in fear, because several representatives of the state demanded an investigation of controversial deals, with an emphasis on multimillion-dollar consulting deals. They also announced a forensic audit of the events that led to Adria's bankruptcy.
Ever since 2016, when 4K Invest bought Adria from the state for one million euros, there have been warnings that it is a bad buyer and that Adria is being owned by a non-transparent network of companies where there is no ultimate owner at all. A subsequent investigation revealed that Martin Vorderwülbecke was the key person behind the network, which stretched from Great Britain to Germany and Luxembourg and ended in Malta.
Then passed on to relatives
When we in Slovenia were thinking about how to save Adria Airways from bankruptcy and maintain its connection with the world, its German owners on the other side of the world were enthusiastically working on new profitable projects. We found at least two projects where millions from Adria could also end up.
Even before the German management of Adria Airways filed for bankruptcy of the company in September last year and ended several months of agony, several companies were founded in the center of Munich: Chacomoo, Azadivine, Bebelus and Guanako Energy. They registered their headquarters in the office building where the 4K Invest fund operated for several years.
The companies were officially founded by Laurenz Vorderwülbecke, a relative of the former first man of 4K Invest, Martin Vorderwülbecke. In the same month, he also took over one of the leading positions in HDI Vier CE, one of the most important and oldest companies within the defunct 4K Invest group.
They will grow livestock and miracle herbs
According to the information that we have collected and analyzed in the editorial office in recent days, the newly created companies will deal with at least two projects in South America, specifically in the country of Paraguay:
- the first is the ChacoMoo project . As boasted in the presentation prospectus, they are said to grow and sell premium South American beef on more than 12,000 hectares in the heart of South America, which includes parts of Paraguay, Argentina and Bolivia. They are said to already have more than 6,000 heads of cattle.
- the second is the Neem project , which deals with the cultivation of the "miracle plant" Neem. It is an evergreen tree with white flowers and fruits similar to olives. They claim that it is supposed to cure more than 100 different diseases. According to them, it is grown on 5,000 hectares of previously uncultivated land in Paraguay.
All connections in these deals lead to Martin Vorderwülbecke, who together with his associates bought, drained and sunk Adria Airways. According to the available data, the newly established companies merely took over projects previously managed by former partners in 4K Invest.
Martin Vorderwülbecke, who formally withdrew from all companies related to the 4K Invest fund after the bankruptcy of Adria, founded the company HDS 35 at the end of last year. It is not known what it will deal with. Recently, he has lectured among other things to members of the Catholic Student Union in Freiburg about private capital funds.
Tens of millions in debt and an empty bankruptcy estate
This week, Adria's bankruptcy administrator Janez Pustatičnik reported to the district court in Kranj that he had chosen an audit firm to carry out a special audit of the transactions that led to the bankruptcy of the Slovenian airline.
The goal of a special audit is primarily to identify possible irregularities in the management of business and potential damage to the company, and such findings by the auditor may constitute the basis for initiating proceedings against members of the company's management and control bodies.
According to our data, before bankruptcy, Adria had at least 60 million euros in liabilities to suppliers, leasing companies, airports, employees and other creditors. Adria owes about five million euros to the bank Intesa Sanpaolo, which, according to the contract, processed and returned the money for the purchased plane tickets.
Meanwhile, the assets in the bankruptcy estate, which will be used to pay creditors, are significantly less. A significant part will go towards paying the costs of the bankruptcy proceedings. According to the manager's estimates, they will spend almost three quarters of a million euros just until the preparation of the opening report, i.e. the inventory of assets.
Where are the millions from the consulting business?
The bankruptcy estate was also emptied of consulting deals that Adria concluded with its owner from Germany. According to our information, shortly after taking over the Slovenian airline in 2016, the company 4K Invest International concluded several consulting contracts with it, which brought it at least four million euros. It is not known what kind of consulting services were involved.
According to our information, these payments do not include the salaries of executives in Adria, who put an additional burden on the company's operations. Even at a time when it was producing record-breaking results. This is information that the Germans concealed for many years. The company 4K Invest International is in the process of liquidation and will be deleted shortly. This means that any claims for damages are likely to be unsuccessful.
