The trial of alleged financial fraudster Juergen Harksen went into the final stages on Monday in Hamburg with public prosecutors demanding a six-year jail term for the man who admitted tricking investors of millions of dollars in bogus investment schemes.
Prosecutor Hans-Gerd Meine told the court that the evidence showed Harksen had gone beyond the usual scope of economic crimes in his fraudulent schemes.
”The measure of the normal economic crimes has been surpassed by far,” he said about the man dubbed the ”king of the con men” in the local media.
In court, Harksen admitted to cheating investors of what was then $18-million between 1990 and 1992 with bogus schemes promising huge rates of return — up to 1 300% — on their money.
After the prosecution summary, Harksen’s defence was scheduled later Monday to present its final argument, one which was likely to point to testimony in court as to how easy some of the investors had made it for him.
Harksen (42) fled to South Africa with his wife and three children in 1993. He was extradited to Germany in late 2002. – Sapa-DPA