Due Diligence That Money Can’t Buy
Summary: Investment banker Nick and two other unnamed bankers describe a purported Swiss investor, 'The Private Office of John Bernard,' who offered tens of millions to startups after a single phone call but required clients to pay tens of thousands of dollars in due diligence fees up front to a firm, insideknowledge.ch, that the bankers could not verify as real. Historic WHOIS records name John Bernard as owner of insideknowledge.ch, and domains tied to a 'Jonathan Bibi' of the Seychelles include acheterdubitcoin.org, blacklisted by French regulators in 2018, and a name listed in a 2018 State of Missouri lawsuit over an unlicensed binary options scheme.
Key Takeaway: Attorney Jason Kane notes victims rarely sue because legal fees can exceed the losses and most are too ashamed to come forward, so a scheme run a few times a year can be a decent living with no one coming after it.
Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗
- Topics
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