Swiss Article on the guides
7th September 2005
StopECG was set up in opposition to a Spanish company, The European City Guide, so why should we be so interested in events currently taking place in Switzerland?
Basically research by numerous individuals has pointed to many of the guides we oppose being run by the same small group of men, some of whom have run many similar operations. Pivotal to this clan is the Swiss Holding company Maiwolf Holding AG which, at the last time of checking held a 70% stake in the European City Guide (ECG) and 100% of Construct Data, The Fair guide.
The article published today in the Swiss paper, Tages-Anzeiger is in German, below is a translation.
See Also: the 2nd (Ludenbach) article, 3rd (Lüdenbach/Silvio Vogt) article and the fourth | (Frank Dohms/Ovag) article.
Dubious offers from Lucerne
By Christian Bütikofer, Tages-Anzeiger (Zürich) - Wednesday, September 7, 2005
A directory firm and two debt collecting companies have, for many years, pursued an unconventional worldwide business from Switzerland. Now they have been visited by the police.
The police knocked on both the doors at 8 o'clock in the morning of Michael Röwe, Managing Director of the firm Novachannel, and Alexander Zweigart, boss of the firm Premium Recovery. They had to deliver up their entire business files to the Lucerne police investigating department on the 5th July. The law enforcement authorities suspect that the companies are using unfair business methods: Röwe's Novachannel sends out forms for directories that indicate that entries are free of charge. In the small print are hidden horrendous fees for the entries. Zweigart's Premium Recovery then take over by subjecting people who have fallen for the trap to massive pressure and unceasing threats of court action to make them pay. Both operate worldwide.
It is mistake to see this as just the cleverly refined business of two shrewd people. They are part of a regular misleading guide industry that has been operating from Switzerland in a systematic way for at least 17 years. In addition to the companies now accused of unfair business practices, Novachannel, Premium Recovery and OVAG International, there are, both in Switzerland and other countries further companies. Many of them are held together by Maiwolf Holding.
Switch over to the Porno industry
This holding company (Maiwolf Holding) is fronted by the lawyer and freemason, Heinz Mäusli, who, as a lawyer, has represented extremists of the far-right and the medic, Walter Fischbacher, who distributed racist literature.
It took a long time for the two Germans, Röwe and Zweigart from Hamburg, to come to the attention of the authorities. Since at least 1991 Röwe has been involved in Switzerland in the field of the Directory Scams; Zweigart has been involved just as long. They learnt their skill for today's antics at the Luzern debt collecting company OVAG International, a company that has also subjected worldwide victims of directory scams of the to massive pressure.
At the end of 2001 Röwe left Ovag and became the head of Novachannel. The mission: to enter the business of pornography with the help of German programmers from Bavaria. For this, after the creation of Novachannel another company, Eye Net Medienagentur, was formed. Both exist in a double pack: in Germany and in Switzerland there is a company called Novachannel and a company called Eye Net.
In Novachannel Germany the Managing Director is the Lucerne diamond dealer, Adam Krbalek. He was the main person who pulled the strings at the firm Heim-Arbeit Index, which specialized in ripping off the unemployed. The firm held out prospects of jobs to people seeking employment and instead took fees from them. Apart from Novachannel Germany, Krbalek has been employed for a long time at various other Maiwolf companies.
Recalling the old 'virtues'
At the end of 2003 Premium Recovery was formed. Alexander Zweigart left Ovag and tried to keep his function at the new debt collecting company a secret. However, an internal document that has come into the possession of the Tages-Anzeiger shows that Zweigart holds all the strings of Premium in his hands. Premium Recovery took over essentially all of the debt collecting cases of Ovag that concerned the Maiwolf scam guide publishing companies.
The pornography business went badly at Novachannel and so in Lucerne they turned back to the old reliable guide tricks. Soon Röwe's Novachannel sent out forms in the same old style.
At the same time the firm rabidly attacked private individuals, who were critical of the business methods of Novachannel on the Internet. In Switzerland one person was sued for damages of 150,000 Francs. This was despite the unserious nature of Novachannel'S business practices having been established without doubt by the Swiss Fair Business Commission.
Loans from Liechtenstein
Over and over again, when the services of the Maiwolf Holding companies are considered the name Gust Eugster appears. He is generally entrusted with company administration, and the firm Datarevisa with which he is also involved, acts as company auditor. Guido August Eugster is an old hand in the address directory business. In the 1990s before Datarevisa was a public trust company it faxed dubious forms to companies worldwide under the name Datafax Appenzell.
Eugster also provides the connection to Liechtenstein and there, strange things happen: Executiv from Vaduz provides Maiwolf people with generous loans. On the balance sheet is a loan headed 'Mäusli/Chvalovsky' for 2.5 million Swiss Francs. Also, Maiwolf Holding is noted with 200,000 Francs and Röwe with 90,000 Francs. Also when researching Maiwolf companies one finds the front men of Executiv appear repeatedly.
Translation of the graphic from the original article
copyright tamedia AG
Have you worked for these men? If so we need to talk! You can communicate with StopECG anonymously, please Email. If you feel your information may assist the criminal investigation, please Go direct to the Lucerne police, their number is 0041 412 488 117.
SECO Press Release | 2nd (Ludenbach) article | 3rd (Lüdenbach/Silvio Vogt) article | 4th (Frank Dohms/Ovag) article | Fifth article (DAD/Inga Kruskop) | Return to Index