IT Factory bankruptcy plot thickens
The details surrounding a bankrupt computer company have all the makings of a mystery novel The chief executive of computer software and consultancy company IT Factory, Stein Bagger, is listed as a missing person by Interpol, but Danish police, banks...
The suspicion over IT Factory’s business dealings were raised by an internet journalist and Danish magazine Computerworld when the company was submitted for the magazine’s Top 100 award.
Background research into the company found that Bagger lied about his PhD stating that it came from the non-existent San Francisco Technical University.
His connection to two Swedish businessmen, who have previously been charged with fraud, was revealed by Computerworld, yet Bagger defended his dealings with their companies.
‘We don’t waste a lot of energy finding out if an employee or owner has been involved in something, as long as they pay their bills,’ said Bagger in an interview before his disappearance in Dubai last week.
However, despite his 139 employees knowing nothing of the incredible turnover that IT Factory was making, reports are emerging that chairman of the board, Asger Jensby, may have known more than he initially said. When Jensby announced the bankruptcy and Bagger’s disappearance, he said the whole affair had come as a complete shock.
Jensby recently said in an interview that he had been aware since the spring that Bagger and IT Factory had been reported to the police in 2003 in relation to forging of documents. Amagerbanken reported them on suspicion that Bagger had falsified a document from a Swedish firm in connection with the sale of a company.
B.T. newspaper also reports that the tax authority SKAT reported Bagger to the North Zealand Police 14 months ago for cheating the system out of at least 10 million kroner through doctored invoices and VAT.
The crux of the case comes down to a profitable leasing system allegedly set up by Bagger that could cost leading banks like Danske Bank, Nordea and the Swedish SEB upwards of one billion kroner, according to DR news.
The leasing arrangements, found in a secret office rented by Bagger, allegedly contain Jensby’s forged signature and fake orders for products that do not exist. This resulted in the appearance of major turnover and profits for IT Factory, without any base in real assets.
Danske Bank had given Bagger a 50 million kroner line of credit, and as a result of questions raised by the investigations, it has temporarily cut off the line of credit it had given to other companies in the portfolio of Asger Jensby’s company, JMI Invest.
A source with knowledge of the deals between the bank and JMI Invest told financial daily Børsen that the bank suspected Jensby to be instrumental in the loss of millions of kroner.
Last year, Jensby received an anonymous e-mail tipping him off to fraud within IT Factory, but the chairman said the business operation appeared to be so running smoothly that it was hard to take the tip seriously.
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