The claims filed in this insolvency amount to around €2 billion, according to fuldaerzeitung.de. The allegations involved are fraud and delayed filing of insolvency. The trial, which is about to commence, will primarily focus on the role played by Leibold and his daughter. If convicted, the defendants are facing prison sentences of up to ten year
"The real scandal concerning the German Pellets case is that the company founder Peter Leibold used bond money primarily to grant loans to closely affiliated companies, including an Austrian foundation, and to himself and his wife, instead of investing the money directly in the pellets market." This quote is taken from an entry in the black book of the Capital Investors' Protection Association (Schutzgemeinschaft der Kapitalanleger – SdK) from 2016, as fuldaerzeitung.de reports.
timber-online.net has reported previously about the German Pellets insolvency:
- Main proceedings against Leibold opened (in German)
- €87 m insolvency in German Pellets environment (in German)
- Further insolvencies around German Pellets (in German)
- Banruptcy filing for Leibold’s company Eko Energy (in German)
- Investigations against wood processor nearing completion
Link EN: https://www.timber-online.net/energy/2018/08/german-pellets-investigations.html - German Pellets insolvency report presented
Link EN: https://www.timber-online.net/energy/2016/10/german_pellets_insolvencyreportpresented.html
