Irish investors in failed German fund told of problems in getting hold of assets Germany Property Group collapsed last year after raising €107m from Irish investors
Sat, Feb 13, 2021, 06:48
More than 1,800 Irish investors caught up in the collapse of a German property group last year are being told of the difficulties they face in any attempt to get hold of assets on which they have a claim, and which have an uncertain value.
The Germany Property Group (GPG), formerly known as Dolphin Trust, collapsed last year after taking more than €1 billion from investors in the Republic, the UK, Asia and elsewhere since it was set up by businessman Charles Smethurst in 2008.
One individual the
Irish Independent spoke to yesterday said he had invested about €300,000 with one of the Irish firms behind Dolphin Capital, also known as German Property Group.
Most of the investors in the German firm’s doomed schemes were ordinary workers who – often on the advice of brokers – ploughed their pensions and life savings into the firm with the p romise of generous returns in the region of 12pc.
The investor from the south of the country who spoke to this newspaper but did not want to be named is in his late 60s and said he had retired from a multinational company here some years ago.
An investor from Co Cork has petitioned the High Court to wind up an Irish firm owned by collapsed German property company Dolphin Capital.
The German group imploded last year in a scandal that has seen thousands of people across Ireland, the UK and elsewhere lose their pensions and life savings.
More than €1bn had been pumped into the German firm by backers, many of them regular workers with small pensions and savings pots.
Dolphin Capital, which along with other associated companies is also called German Property Group, offered investors eye-watering returns by refurbishing and repurposing listed properties in Germany.
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