Criminal investigators search Adria premises


The National Bureau of Investigation has conducted house searches in the Kranj and Ljubljana areas in connection to Adria Airways’ collapse last October. The search has centred around two foreign nationals, believed to be the bankrupt company’s former executives. Adria Airways' receiver, Janez Pustatičnik, confirmed the raids took place at several homes, as well as Adria’s headquarters. The General Police Administration said the investigators were visiting residential, commercial and other premises in the areas of Kranj and Ljubljana, which are owned by one legal entity and two individuals. A pre-trial investigation is currently being conducted against the two foreign individuals.

Earlier this year, Ernst & Young were awarded a contract by Adria Airways’ bankruptcy administrator to audit the former flag carrier in order to determine the responsibility its past owner, 4K Invest, played in the airline’s collapse. The auditor is looking into Adria's financial information for any material misstatements of income, expenses, assets or transfers of property within the last few years. It is believed the German fund funnelled money from the airline and inked a number of highly damaging consultancy agreements on behalf of the Slovenian carrier with other companies in its ownership. Allegations of abuse of office and business fraud, including the theft of 5.000 US dollars from the company’s safe following its bankruptcy last September, are also being investigated by police.

Since Adria’s collapse, the majority of businesses owned by 4K Invest went into bankruptcy. The firm's managing director, Martin Vorderwulbecke, registered a new company under the name HDS 35 in late December of 2019. Mr Vorderwulbecke was the responsible manager who headed negotiations with the Slovenian government over the acquisition of Adria Airways. He is linked to over a dozen other companies, most of which have been liquidated. It includes AA International Aviation Holding, which 4K Invest created to formally acquire Adria Airways.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    Is one of the foreign citizens the former CEO?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      We don't know. Most of the top management were foreigners.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:10

      Well two foreigners - Kowarsch and Kukemelk want more money from Adria!
      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2020/05/151-million-in-claims-against-adria.html

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:12

      ^ Haha that's just crazy.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:28

      It should be.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:44

      But do they really own homes in Ljubljana?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:03

      Would be interesting to find out who form SLO management is also a subject of criminal investigation.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:20

      Who led negotiations with 4K from the government?

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    Good!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:11

    Can't wait to see those responsible answer for their actions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:46

      I wouldn’t bet they will with the state of Slovenia’s judicial system.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:26

    Justice will be served sooner or later.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:26

    They should also investigate the people who thought it was a good idea to sell Adria to these clowns who had nothing but bankruptcies to show in their portfolio.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:32

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:43

      Agree. Political responsibility must be investigated as well.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:00

      Exactly. Who chose 4K Invest and what due diligence was done.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:54

      I believe the rationale at the time was since no suitors were lining up, the government just wanted to get rid of the loser Adria to whoever showed some interest in it.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:45

      @anon 10:54:
      You are correct. At the end only 4K sent a binding offer. And JP was already insolvent for quite some tome. So it was either for the government to start bankruptcy proceedings and the politicians to get the negative stigma, or "sell" it to 4K, buy ourself one or two years, maybe it will be OK, maybe not, it's not their problem anymore, and they won't be the bad guys who ended JP.

      You know the situation is serious when another government owned enterprise threatens JP that if the don't settle the debt, the will start bankruptcy. That usually means sh*t really hit the fan in the upper floors of the management building.

      So at the end numbers were unforgiven. It was either the sale to the only buyer gets through or start of bakruptcy starts. Even the minister for economy who is quite fond of government enterprises in the tourist and transport sector could not make magic work any other way.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:28

    They will find many surprises.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous09:29

    Good. Hopefully they'll identify all the murky things that have been done and someone is finally held responsible.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous09:33

    If Adria had not gone bankrupt in September it certainly would have now during corona.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:38

      Not necessarily. Had Adria survived until corona, the government would now certainly give them bail out money.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:55

      They are needed now more than ever.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:38

      @Anon 09:38: They would need at least €100m just to repay debts and then some more money to survive this time.

      Do you really think the government would give them €150-200m?

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:43

    Can't wait to finally see someone jailed for what happened at Adria

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:43

    With all due respect, Adria was a lost cause even before 4K came.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:49

    Hoping some of the 4K fraudsters will come to Slovenia to face the music.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous10:00

    About time

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous10:01

    Only $5,000 missing from the safe? Yeah right.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:19

      From the safe. Meaning someone physically took the money out with their own hands. Who knows how much is missing from the accounts.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous10:05

    I wonder if anyone is going to buy the Adria brand names and social media accounts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:13

      Sure they will, like the uniforms.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous10:14

    It's so sad what happened with this company. And for an airline with such history to end in such a way, being destroyed by some petty German scammers. Sad.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:21

      Such a shame Adria was sold to them. Maybe things would have been different had it not.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:26

      Be careful who you choose for your partners.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:42

      It was quite expected they will go bankrupt sooner or later.

      Had it not been for the government bailouts, well... They would be gone at least 10 years ago.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous10:17

    good luck finding a single Euro or any of these crooks

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous10:32

    Fantastic result of a privatization process. Congratulations to all sides involved.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:46

      You’re absolutely right. Before Adria was privatised, it was a world-class airline with a strong business model, so profitable that their shareholders got dividends each year, with most of their fleet owned and they had solid plans for expansion in the region.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:25

      last anon: just to add to your very funny and on point obvervation, that JP only employed people on merits and no nepotism and no party line was ever in place

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:13

      @Anonymous 11:25:

      Does it really still hurt, after all this time, that they didn't hire you?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:41

      That's exactly why I didn't want to mention the hiring policy, as I knew someone from ADR4EVER would come here and start the "you weren't good enough" story we've read so many times.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous15:23

      Nope, not a member of the A4E nor any of the political cycling groups.

      But it is funny how you guys always crawl out from under a rock, crying about the hiring policy at Adria. Based on your nepotism assumption that means the Dutch, French, Kiwi, Aussie, ... guys and gals had someone on the inside? Are you for real?!

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:35

      Adria only started hiring foreigners from 2016-2017 onwards, when they couldn't get more Slovenians as people found out they could get paid more for less work with a more stable job abroad. Combine that with crazy expansion, they were hiring anybody who would work for 1/3rd less they could get in easyJet or Ryanair.

      Before that it was more of who you know...

      Delete
    7. Anonymous16:51

      Are you claiming that foreigners were paid less than people hired before them? Have you ever heard of a Collective Agreement?

      As said before, if you didn't make the cut, stop whining about it. Adria is gone and if people got hired due to connections instead of their abilities, I'm sure they wouldn't have made it elsewhere. Which (contrary to your whinging) they actually did.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous17:22

      no, he's saying that they hired anyone who came around. that has nothing to do with collective agreements abroad. but there the entry competition is more fiercy, and how didn't made the cut at easy and ryan came to JP for less money.

      and no, not all of the über capable pilots of JP got jobs elsewhere. quite a lot of them failed ther interviews/tests.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous17:25

      Quite a few came back to the air force for example, as they didn't made it to lauda/lot/wizz, etc, the foreigners also didn't do very well as far as I hear (generally because they were not very experienced). So I hear.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous18:16

      Gentlemen, enough with the BS. Some of the foreigners came to Adria because the type rating was free (unlike Ryan or Easy). Some of them failed interviews elsewhere (so what??).

      All the über pilots got jobs elsewhere (before the virus). Well, at least the ones who wanted to, anyway. However, not all of them passed all the interviews (having a 100% track record does not automatically make you a better pilot).

      As for "Quite a few came back to the air force for example, as they didn't made it to lauda/lot/wizz, etc, the foreigners also didn't do very well as far as I hear" just shows you have a grudge against Adria. Guys who went back to the army did so, because they wanted to be home, not because they were incompetent. And by stating that foreigners who didn't make it at Easy or Ryan went to Adria and then saying they did very well elsewhere just shows you guys have no idea what you're talking about. Check your facts before posting BS.

      It is more than obvious you did not make the cut at Adria at some point. Guys, let it go. You win some, you lose some. But don't blame/shame the others for your failure. It's not nice.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous10:35

    Hope charges are laid.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous11:34

    I really like the way the charges of money vanishing were substantiated in the sense that on ACMI routes flown by JP the LF was obove 85% and therefore a lot of money was to be made otherwise. #facepalm. I really don't know who is feeding this crap to the authorities. But to be honest, the average joe at the police station does not know even what ACMI means, yet alone how it works. So someone is feeding someone skewed info and therefore I am a bit suspitious as to the real motivation in pointing the finger or should we say selectively pointing fingers.

    So my 2 cents are this is just some show, nothing can be done now even though the germans absolutely didn't make a loss at JP, but I also suspect the numbers circulating (beyond that 5k eur from the safe joke) are far exaggerated to point the finger solely at the germans, and not the fact what was going on at JP beforehand in government ownership, when money was pouring left and right, but always to the "right" pockets.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous13:02

    And Slovenian Government and polititians?

    ReplyDelete

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