The Bastille-Affair
These black sheep of Liechtenstein trustees shamelessly exploit the incomplete legal frame work because they feel protected by the law. As an example of the failure of an entire (hitherto self-protecting) system, a few examples should be recalled which also caused sensation abroad.
The Liechtenstein daily Vaterland reports that a former trustee has debts of 125,000 francs to his former company. He had to stand trial. He was accused of having siphoned off money as an employee of the company and of having embezzled client funds. In addition, he violated the narcotics law due to his cocaine consumption. […]
In the wake of the Zagorec Hypo criminal proceedings of 2017, the FMA revokes the trustee licence of a lawyer with an office in Vaduz, the Liechtenstein daily Vaterland announces. Read the full article here
In January 2022, the German radio station WDR published an extensive documentary on the conditions of the Liechtenstein fiduciary system (KLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT): “After strong international pressure, the Principality declared in 2009 that it no longer wanted to serve as a refuge for black money. Nevertheless, good money continues to be earned: from […]
The Erich von Hoffen case is only too good evidence of a long tradition of delinquent trustees in Liechtenstein. Involvement of the highest circles, money laundering and widely ramified, interwoven structures, a pattern that almost all criminal proceedings, in which Liechtenstein trustees play a central role, have in common. Eugen von Hoffen is a dazzling […]
Discrimination of Beneficiaries Unfortunately, the changes in the law do not touch the core of the problems of the Trustee Act. Beneficiaries of Liechtenstein trusts (trusts) continue to be grossly disadvantaged. The legal position of discretionary beneficiaries must be massively improved – similar to the foundation. They will in fact no party status in judicial […]
The scandal surrounding the former chairman of the board of Deutsche Post, Klaus Zumwinkel, is becoming apparent just as foreign criminals are also using the Liechtenstein system for their base motives. This affair proves that the Liechtenstein financial sector does not take the possible regulations for suspicious money reports or “know your customer” rules too […]
As the owner of the Vaduz High Society Bar Esquire, Mario Staggl was connected, not just within the fiduciary sector, but with the who-is-who of influential people in Liechtenstein and Switzerland as well. Without question, he is one of the most dazzling personalities among Liechtenstein trustees. But how could a trustee afford such a luxury […]
In Liechtenstein, a trustee’s victim said once, the beneficiaries [of a trust] have no rights. If a trustee is stealing your money, you can bang your head against a wall and it will help more than a court in Liechtenstein. This article, published in 2018 in the Financial Times, impressively illuminates the systematic weaknesses of […]
“Settlors’ rights of intervention would only be half-heartedly observed, beneficiaries would be given meaningless information, and individual family lines would be favored for no reason. Foundations would even continue without beneficiaries, which essentially only provide income to foundation organs and advisors. Sub-optimal investment of assets also occurs. And even the courts would sometimes give cause […]
By far one of the most sensational cases is the case of the Princely Justice Council Harry Gstöhl. In addition to his decades in fiduciary work, Harry Gstöhl also held the highest judicial offices in Liechtenstein: • President of the Administrative Court 1982-1992 • President of the State Court 1992-2004 • Liechtenstein representative of the […]