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Cyber Risks · Krebs on Security

Who is Tech Investor John Bernard?

Summary: KrebsOnSecurity reports that John Bernard, the self-proclaimed millionaire tech investor behind The Private Office in Switzerland, appears to be a pseudonym for John Clifton Davies, a U.K. man convicted of fraud in 2015 after absconding from justice. Davies had served 16 months in custody before being cleared of murdering his wife on their honeymoon in India, and was later convicted of stealing more than GBP 750,000 from struggling companies through unlicensed insolvency consulting. The scheme worked by promising millions in investment, then requiring startups to pay tens of thousands in due diligence fees to Inside Knowledge, a Swiss firm also secretly owned by Bernard, before pulling out of the deal.

What you should know: Multiple investment brokers told Krebs the same story, and the structure of the scam depends on victims staying quiet: legal fees can quickly surpass the losses, and most are too ashamed to come forward. The promised finders fee of five percent of total investment was never paid because no deal was ever consummated.

Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗

Topics
Data Breaches
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