A 56-year-old who defrauded €840,000 from an Irish biotechnology company who were making an “important scientific development,” has been jailed for three and a half years.
Mayo-based bio-tech firm Ovagen was trying to raise funds of €28 million for the patenting of a germ-free egg for use in vaccines when they were introduced to a Swiss banking company called Enerbiz. Its chief executive Adrianus Johannes Kees said he would help Ovagen secure a loan.
He had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to fraud and theft on dates between March 12th, 2011 and January 10th, 2012. He pleaded guilty on the fifth day of his trial to the fraud charge on a full facts business.
Kees, of Calle de la Paaz, Valencia said he would get Ovagen the funding it required by securing an irrevocable loan commitment letter. Once that letter was obtained Kees said he would be able to secure bonds to secure the funding.
He requested Ovagen company directors to send him a processing fee of €840,000 which he would place in an escrow account, where it could not be touched, and would refund them within 91 days if funding was not secured.
Ovagen was told that it would only have to make interest repayments in the meantime. They would also be able to check this account at any time to show that the money was safe, Kees told them.
Kees claimed he had paperwork from banking multinational HSBC about a loan but Ovagen did not get documentation in relation to it. When they did get documentation they were suspicious.
Detective Garda Leo Heaney gave evidence no loan from HSBC ever materialised and Ovagen asked to see the escrow bank account from Lichtenstein showing the money was still there. There was never any escrow account, the court heard.
Det Gda Heaney told David Perry BL prosecuting, an agreement was set out of how it was going to get this funding. They were told they were to deposit €840,000 to show that there was money there and Kees wanted it paid to LGT bank in Lichtenstein.
Escrow account
One thing that was emphasised was that the money was going to be held in an escrow account where it could not be touched. It was stressed that it had to be paid quickly, the court heard.
On foot of those representations Ovagen took out loan from €840k from AIB for which they gave personal guarantees.
The money was transferred to the bank account in Lichtenstein and the accused said he was working on getting a loan from HSBC.
Eventually Kees did send on loan documents on HSBC headed paper. After that documentation Ovagen pushed for an interview with HSBC but the court heard there was no meeting set up with the bank.
In October 2011 Ovagen asked Kees to see bank statements and started to demand to return the money but the court heard it was never returned.
Kees was the only person who had access to the account, the court heard. The money was quickly dispersed and was spent within two weeks. The only money that went into that account was from Ovagen.
Half of the money transferred to an associate, €56,150 was transferred to Kees’ bank account. Money transferred to his wife had an “interesting narrative” of ‘pool house settlement’ and another payment was for Mercedes Benz leasing. The only money that went into the account was from Ovagen and it had a remaining balance of €3.83.
Ovagen had to repay AIB that money personally and never got any of it back, the court heard.
In a victim impact read to the court CEO Dr Leonard Moran said the fraud had a devastating effect on his health and his family and he had to let all the staff go. “The stress was enormous and my quality of life changed forever.”
A European Arrest Warrant was issued by the High Court in July 2022 and Kees, who was then in Spain, was charged on September 23, 2022. Kees took a trial date but a plea was entered after several civilian witnesses had given evidence.
There were mutual requests that the Dutch police would interview him and authorities in Lichenstein were also investigating matters. Kees travelled from New York to Panama in 2014 and his passport also indicated he had also been to Africa.
The FBI were to inform Gardai if he returned to the US, the court heard.
Kees, who previously held a Dutch passport “but is no longer a Dutch national” has no previous convictions. The court heard three reference letters were handed into the court but there were “very serious concerns over the legitimacy of those letters,” said Mr Perry.
Gerard Groarke BL defending, said that his client instructed him that he did not wish to rely on the letters. He said that Kees had posted €50k bail and was willing to give that money to Mr Moran.
The prosecution said Ovagen would accept the money but only as an expression of remorse.
“Mr Kees wasn’t actively evading justice” and had travelled to Ireland, albeit having been extradited, he came voluntarily, said Mr Groarke.
A letter from Kees was handed into the court where he apologised to the victims. He said he married in 2013 but his wife has mobility issues. He said his eldest daughter was due his grandchild and he “would like to return to Valencia for Christmas.”
The court heard he was an enhanced prisoner in Cloverhill Prison. “He hasn’t had a particularly good time in prison,” said Mr Groarke.
Judge Elva Duffy set a headline sentence for four and a half years but reduced this by a year and backdated it to July for time spent in custody.
She ordered that the 50k bail money be paid over to the victims but said she was not making a compensation order. Evidence had been given that the accused has three properties in Valenica in Spain. But Judge Duffy said she was not making a compensation order as “this man is something of a mystery in that regard.”
Judge Duffy said the victim impact statement handed into court “make for harrowing reading.”
The judge said the aggravating factors were it was a “very serious offence” involving “a high level of money”. But the judge said that while it was taken from a company it was “not faceless”.
