Businessman charged with fraud
Cybercity's controversial founder has been charged with fraud and embezzlement for his transactions with the company's shares
Controversial entrepreneur Klaus Riskær Pedersen is facing a second round through the court system, after being charged with fraud and embezzlement of DKK 12 million on Wednesday.
Police have investigated Pedersen and his suspected accomplices for nearly four years in connection with his family's fund. According to the charges, Pedersen cut himself a too large a slice when he sold his internet broadband company Cybercity in 2000, but the irregularities stretch back to 1996.
Pedersen founded the company in 1995.
Danish media have reported that fraud police suspect him of taking illegal loans and using a front man in a deal where two-thirds of Cybercity's share capital changed hands in 1998-1999.
A new court case could have grave consequences for Pedersen, who received a two-and-a-half-year suspended prison sentence in 2000 for embezzling DKK 35 million and failing to pay back DKK 130 million in loans after the crash of his investment company, Accumulator Invest.
If Pedersen is found guilty, the previous conviction could result in a 10-year prison verdict, national radio news channel DR reported.
Pedersen said he welcomed a legal process of accusations and allegations, which authorities had used for years as an excuse to impound the Riskær Fund.
Pedersen, who is generally considered the enfant terrible of Danish businessmen, has launched a number of companies, been convicted for fraud, and starred in a Danish version of the reality show 'The Apprentice'.