Film-maker ‘stole £14m from Col Gaddafi’s German bank account’

Maximilian V stole £14m from the regime of Col Gaddafi

Credit: ZOHRA BENSEMRA/Reuters

A German film-maker went on trial this week on charges of defrauding €16m (£14.5m) from the regime of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The 50-year-old film-maker, named only as Maximilian V under Germany privacy laws, is accused of obtaining the money from a secret German bank account held by the former Libyan regime under false pretences. The account was one of a network used by the Libyan state investment authority to move oil money around the world.

Prosecutors allege Maximilian V and an accomplice filed a fraudulent claim in the German courts in 2011, professing that Libya owed them millions for a fake construction project. The claim went unchallenged because Libya was engulfed in civil war and the bank was ordered to hand over the money. 

There are no pleas in the German legal system but lawyers for Maximilian V say he plans to make a written statement to the court on Friday.

According to the charges, Maximilian V was commissioned by the Libyan authorities to make a documentary on the life of Col Gaddafi entitled Brother Colonel in 2006. But the film was not completed and Maximilian V was never paid, leaving him €650,000 (£590,000) out of pocket. 

The film-maker was commissioned to make a documentary in the Libyan leader's life but never paid

Credit: STR/Reuters

It has since emerged that Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the German business minister at the time, intervened unsuccessfully with the Libyan government on Maximilian V’s behalf in 2009.

Prosecutors allege that after the Libyan civil war broke out in 2011, the film-maker despaired of getting the money back by legitimate means and turned to fraud. He had become aware of the Libyan regime’s German bank account details and filed a claim in the German courts.

But rather than settle for the €650,000 he was owed he made a false claim for €23m (£21m) in unpaid invoices for a major construction project. With the help of a German architect who was also owed money by the Libyan regime he drew up false invoices for unpaid bills. Under German law, uncontested claims are granted automatically and €16m was transferred to Maximilian V’s film company.

Prosecutors allege the film-maker then cheated the unnamed architect of his share and moved to Malta, where he bought a €900,000 (£816,000) seafront apartment.

It is hoped the trial may shed some light on how Maximilian V learned about the secret bank account. Prosecutors believe he may have been aided by another accomplice within the Libyan regime in return for a share of the money.

A warrant for Maximilian V’s arrest was first issued in 2012, but two previous attempts to bring the case to court collapsed, leaving prosecutors under pressure to bring him to trial before the statute of limitations on the case expires this September.

If convicted Maximilian V faces up to ten years in prison. The trial continues.