There has been some renewed activity in Mr. Kofmel's frauds, and subsequent interest. For your information, and to avoid repetition, I have posted a quick F.A.Q. If there are are any further queries, I would be delighted to answer any individual questions from victims, law enforcement agencies or other legitimate interested parties at victimsoferich@gmail.com
Who is Erich Kofmel?
Erich Kofmel is a Swiss National born on 21st October 1974. He is an internationally wanted criminal who poses as an academic. He has no higher degree having been expelled from the University of Sussex and the University of Sciences Po, for fraud [see press section for independant press verification i.e. Times Higher Education and University statements etc]. He refers to himself as "Professor" but holds no genuine academic post or link with any respected institution.
But what is SCIS?
SCIS is Mr. Kofmel. There is no Board - of directors and no advisory board, there are no academics, and no affiliation with any University. Mr. Kofmel's appointment as a "professor" is by himself, nobody else.
What did he do?
Erich Kofmel has been involved in a number of different frauds and bankruptcies - they are outlined in more detailed and supported by references in the links below - particularly in our information page.
He is most notorious for his property frauds where he advertised holiday properties that did not exist and took full prepayment for them from hundred of victims amounting to hundreds of thousands of Euros - possibly much more. He appeared to specifically target/defraud the elderly, the disabled and students.
He would cancel the non-existent holiday lets, often the day before travel, and then cease all contact. This left people not only having been defrauded (having paid for their holiday in full), but also with shattered travel plans with no accommodation at short notice. He used miss-spellings of his own name to commit the crimes.
How do you know Erich Kofmel, and not somebody impersonating him, committed the frauds?
The property frauds had previously been investigated by numerous police forces around the world, including (due to the sheer scale of the operation) an investigation by INTERPOL. A group of victims and computer experts used internet technology to trace the crimes to Erich Kofmel and supplied this data to police.
Erich Kofmel then claimed that he had been the victim of identity theft, having previously reported his passport stolen in a fake mugging, and that somebody had used these identity documents to impersonate him and set up bank accounts in his name, to commit the frauds.
The UK police then used CCTV from the bank accounts (see picture) used in the frauds, to demonstrate that it was Erich Kofmel, and not an impersonator, drawing thousands of pounds out of money stolen from hundreds of unsuspecting victims. They then set up a sting operation to arrest Erich Kofmel at the London School of Economics - at this time Mr. Kofmel had on his person the passport he had used to set up the fraudulent accounts and the bank cards used to draw money from them, proving beyond any doubt his involvement in the frauds.
But Erich Kofmel claims the police are looking for "one Eric Kofmehl, not Erich Kofmel"
When it was suggested to the Munich prosecutor that they should search for "Eric Kofmehl" and not "Erich Kofmel" a spokeperson said (June 29th 2009) "we presume that the persons are identical". Mr. Kofmel asked people to use BACS / CHAPS bank transfers to the miss-spelled names, which were "close enough" (given the correct sort codes and account numbers) to allow the bank transfers to go ahead. The person who the police and prosecutors wish to re-arrest is the person pictured here at the time of his arrest by Sussex and the Metropolitan police.
So "case closed" surely - what happened next?
Erich Kofmel was arrested and interviewed by Sussex Police. He answered "no comment" on questions relating to the frauds. He was released on police bail to return to be charged with multiple counts of fraud on 9th September 2008. He committed the criminal offence of failure to answer bail, and he has been on the run from police since.
Why is Mr. Kofmel still on the run more than 2 years later?
It is very difficult and expensive to extradite criminals to different jurisdictions. However Mr. Kofmel remains wanted in a number of jurisdictions and we are confident that Mr. Kofmel will one day face the legal justice systems.
Mr. Kofmel claims this is all fabricated by a "cyberstalker" - how do you know that is not the case?
You are encouraged to watch the BBC television documentary (click on links below) and read the various independent press articles about Mr. Kofmel, and make your own mind up.
Mr. Kofmel is well aware of his involvement in the frauds, and the compelling evidence against him.
It is he who has chosen not to answer his police bail and answer the allegations, which are based on overwhelming evidence, against him. The BBC have offered to pay for Mr. Kofmel to travel to the UK to answer the allegations, and he had access to free legal aid. If Mr. Kofmel wishes to defend the allegations against him, the place to do that - for free - is the courts.
So where can I get more information about this?
1) Read a selection of the press articles on the section on the left of the screen in the blog or information page.
2) Read the Erich Kofmel Fraud information page BY CLICKING HERE for information prior to October 2009
3) Read the Erich Kofmel Fraud blog for information post October 2009 - see posts below in reverse chronological order.
4) Watch the BBC documentary about the Kofmel frauds BY CLICKING HERE [Reproduced with kind permission for Wordwide use by the BBC]
Who is Erich Kofmel?
Erich Kofmel is a Swiss National born on 21st October 1974. He is an internationally wanted criminal who poses as an academic. He has no higher degree having been expelled from the University of Sussex and the University of Sciences Po, for fraud [see press section for independant press verification i.e. Times Higher Education and University statements etc]. He refers to himself as "Professor" but holds no genuine academic post or link with any respected institution.
But what is SCIS?
SCIS is Mr. Kofmel. There is no Board - of directors and no advisory board, there are no academics, and no affiliation with any University. Mr. Kofmel's appointment as a "professor" is by himself, nobody else.
What did he do?
Erich Kofmel has been involved in a number of different frauds and bankruptcies - they are outlined in more detailed and supported by references in the links below - particularly in our information page.
He is most notorious for his property frauds where he advertised holiday properties that did not exist and took full prepayment for them from hundred of victims amounting to hundreds of thousands of Euros - possibly much more. He appeared to specifically target/defraud the elderly, the disabled and students.
He would cancel the non-existent holiday lets, often the day before travel, and then cease all contact. This left people not only having been defrauded (having paid for their holiday in full), but also with shattered travel plans with no accommodation at short notice. He used miss-spellings of his own name to commit the crimes.
How do you know Erich Kofmel, and not somebody impersonating him, committed the frauds?
The property frauds had previously been investigated by numerous police forces around the world, including (due to the sheer scale of the operation) an investigation by INTERPOL. A group of victims and computer experts used internet technology to trace the crimes to Erich Kofmel and supplied this data to police.
The UK police then used CCTV from the bank accounts (see picture) used in the frauds, to demonstrate that it was Erich Kofmel, and not an impersonator, drawing thousands of pounds out of money stolen from hundreds of unsuspecting victims. They then set up a sting operation to arrest Erich Kofmel at the London School of Economics - at this time Mr. Kofmel had on his person the passport he had used to set up the fraudulent accounts and the bank cards used to draw money from them, proving beyond any doubt his involvement in the frauds.
But Erich Kofmel claims the police are looking for "one Eric Kofmehl, not Erich Kofmel"
So "case closed" surely - what happened next?
Erich Kofmel was arrested and interviewed by Sussex Police. He answered "no comment" on questions relating to the frauds. He was released on police bail to return to be charged with multiple counts of fraud on 9th September 2008. He committed the criminal offence of failure to answer bail, and he has been on the run from police since.
Why is Mr. Kofmel still on the run more than 2 years later?
It is very difficult and expensive to extradite criminals to different jurisdictions. However Mr. Kofmel remains wanted in a number of jurisdictions and we are confident that Mr. Kofmel will one day face the legal justice systems.
Mr. Kofmel claims this is all fabricated by a "cyberstalker" - how do you know that is not the case?
You are encouraged to watch the BBC television documentary (click on links below) and read the various independent press articles about Mr. Kofmel, and make your own mind up.
Mr. Kofmel is well aware of his involvement in the frauds, and the compelling evidence against him.
It is he who has chosen not to answer his police bail and answer the allegations, which are based on overwhelming evidence, against him. The BBC have offered to pay for Mr. Kofmel to travel to the UK to answer the allegations, and he had access to free legal aid. If Mr. Kofmel wishes to defend the allegations against him, the place to do that - for free - is the courts.
Mr. Kofmel claims this is all fabricated to discredit his "academic" work / thoughts?
The victims are not qualified, or interested, to comment on any of Mr. Kofmel's beliefs.
So where can I get more information about this?
1) Read a selection of the press articles on the section on the left of the screen in the blog or information page.
2) Read the Erich Kofmel Fraud information page BY CLICKING HERE for information prior to October 2009
3) Read the Erich Kofmel Fraud blog for information post October 2009 - see posts below in reverse chronological order.
4) Watch the BBC documentary about the Kofmel frauds BY CLICKING HERE [Reproduced with kind permission for Wordwide use by the BBC]
