As of: March 25, 2024, 7:11 p.m
By: Kilian Bäuml
Comments
Press
Split
He received millions from German high society, but he was an imposter.
Now Jürgen Harksen has died unexpectedly in Mallorca.
Palma - He was probably the best-known fraudster in German high society: Jürgen Harksen conned many well-known faces out of millions.
While the average person is wary of phone scams, Harksen ripped off his investors over champagne in his mansion.
With his fraud he wrapped Dieter Bohlen around his finger, among others.
So much so that, according to NDR, Bohlen gave him a total of three million deutschmarks (around 1.5 million euros).
Now Harksen died unexpectedly in Mallorca and left behind a life story that was so wild that it was even made into a film.
Jürgen Harksen defrauded German high society of millions before being convicted of fraud in 2003.
© dpa/Montage
Millionaire fraudster Jürgen Harksen is dead: even Dieter Bohlen gave him money
In the 80s, Jürgen Harksen came to Hamburg and quickly established himself as a popular investor in upper society.
Builders and jewelers trust him with their money for investments.
He had a colorful personality and obviously had a lot of sales talent.
He spoke to his investors about huge profits of up to 1,300 percent - even though he had no specialist knowledge and was not even said to be good at mathematics.
For example, Harksen told his investors about a huge oil discovery in Norway.
A pyramid scheme emerged because in order to pay out old investors, new investors have to pay in.
Using money from rich investors, Harksen lived in a villa in Hamburg and had a good time.
There he repeatedly celebrated lavish parties - anything to keep up appearances.
Ultimately so successful that he was even able to deceive stars like Dieter Bohlen.
As the
Bild
newspaper writes, Harksen is said to have collected a whopping 150 million over the years before he left for South Africa.
After cheating millions on stars like Dieter Bohlen: Dieter Harksen flees to South Africa
After his escape, Harksen lived a life of luxury in Cape Town because there was no extradition treaty with Germany.
Only after nine years, in 2003, was he sentenced to almost seven years in prison for fraud.
While according to the report Bohlen is said to have gotten back the millions he invested, this probably does not apply to most other donors.
According to the investigators, many investors are said to have given the fraudster black money, so the damage could be even greater.
In addition, many cases could no longer be prosecuted at the time of trial.
My news
Putin wants an “empire” – also with the help of Soviet material: “Losses are an acceptable price” read
Seriously injured ski jumping ace with devastating bedside diagnosis
Unusual event: 25,000 people wait in St. Peter's Square - Pope foregoes reading sermons
“That’s disrespectful”: Civil servants earn as little as citizens’ benefit recipients – and the traffic lights are watching
Motorcyclist from Munich has to return on foot - and takes out anger on construction yard employees
Skoda's novelty with a combustion engine impresses fans - read “It's sustainable”.
Even if it is of a magnitude of its own, cases of fraud amounting to millions of euros also occur again and again in Germany.
There was a huge fraud at Bavarian Airlines.
Some fraudsters don't even shy away from using Ukraine to commit a fraud worth 40 million euros.
Not a glamorous end for millionaire fraudsters: Jürgen Harksen dies in Mallorca at the age of 63
After his imprisonment, Jürgen Harksen started a new life in Mallorca and opened the high-end restaurants “Nuru” and “Numi”.
Towards the end of his life, however, the life of the millionaire fraudster apparently lost its glamor again.
As the
Bild
newspaper reported, both restaurants had to close and Harksen was in poor financial shape.
He also suffered from health problems such as liver cirrhosis, which was probably due to his high alcohol consumption.
Ultimately, he did not survive a liver transplant and died in Mallorca at the age of 63.
His life was filmed in the two-part series “Greed” in 2010.
So posterity will probably continue to remember the most famous millionaire fraudster in German high society.
His most famous fraud victim, Dieter Bohlen, should also retire, at least if Nino de Angelo has his way, who shoots against the pop titan.