German jailed for €345m Ponzi scheme

K1 GROUP founder Helmut Kiener has been convicted of defrauding investors with a €345 million Ponzi scheme and sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison.

Kiener, 52, was found guilty of fraud, forgery and tax evasion by a court in Wuerzburg, Germany.

Kiener confessed to using new investors’ money to make up for losses in the wake of the financial crisis and to having manipulated some account statements.