THE Criminal Assets Bureau has seized more than €2.5M from bank accounts in the State run by fraudster Francois de Dietrich.
The French businessman, who duped people into his illegal Ponzi scheme from his offices in Ballybofey, is still on the run from authorities here and in the UK after taking €20M from people all over Ireland.
CAB is continuing its investigations into several associates here in County Donegal after seizing €2,682,000 from the Frenchman’s bank accounts. The money will be used to pay back those victims who have come forward – but many still haven’t.
Victims of the scam included Gardai and well-known GAA and business figures. Millions of euro is still missing however.
The scam worked with people getting returns from money put into the scheme by others.
Gardai still believe close associates of crook Francois de Dietrich in Donegal “made a killing” on his Ponzi scheme which left so many others heart-broken.
Gardai are working closely with the PSNI in the North in a huge investigation into the scam, first exposed by donegaldaily.com.
The criminal investigation is focusing on more than 80 people who made more than €7M from the scam.
An accountancy firm – PwC – has given Gardai records of those involved, including names, addresses and bank account details.
They show pay-outs to what Garda sources call a “mafia” around Francois totalling millions of euro.
One Donegal investor – who pushed the scheme to dozens of others – made more than half a million euro in cash from the scam.
Francois is believed to be living in a villge 30kms from Paris.
A Belfast judge has issued a European Arrest Warrant – with the man who once ran a French restaurant on the High Road in Letterkenny facing an automatic 18-month jail sentence for contempt of court.