February 24, 2015
By Krystle Vermes, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Corinna von Schonau-Riedweg, the heiress Novartis AG shares worth hundreds of millions of Euros, is now suing Zurich’s Rothschild Bank in the U.S. and Baron Wildred von Plotho in Europe. Plotho had previously provided Schonau-Riedweg with financial advice that resulted in the loss of tens of millions of dollars, according to The Independent.
Schonau-Riedweg originally inherited shares of biopharmaceutical company Novartis in 2002 after the passing of her mother. She went to her longtime friends, the Plothos, for advice on how to manage her funds. The Baron allegedly advised Schonau-Riedweg to sell a large amount of her shares, then used the money himself on speculative U.S. investments.
When Schonau-Riedweg realized that Plotho had lost millions of dollars, she brought him to court in Boston, Mass., winning $15 million in her suit against him. Now, she is looking to bring him to court in Europe.
Additionally, Schonau-Riedweg’s legal team says that it has uncovered new evidence against Rothschild – enough to call it to court in Boston, Mass. The bank allegedly “did nothing” to prevent Plotho from wildly investing Schonau-Riedweg’s money, although the financial institution denies these claims.
Rothschild also said in a statement that it will “vigorously resist” any renewed attempts to involve it in legal matters.
Where Did Schonau-Riedweg Go Wrong?
Arguably, the center of Schonau-Riedweg’s devastating investments goes back to one company: Continuum Energy Technologies. According to the Boston Globe , this business has been attempting to “change the properties of matter,” but researchers for Continuum say that their endeavors are not focused on alchemy.
For example, one experiment at Continuum was to produce a better copper that could enhance the power of computers. However, Schonau-Riedweg still believes she was duped, investing $77 million into the company that has yielded little success.
“The technology has real promise,” Paul Edward Gray, Continuum’s senior technical adviser, told the news source. “It just needs more work, more time spent understanding the processes and I have no doubt they will pursue those things.”
Kevin Welch, the company’s executive vice president, went on to say that anyone who has invested in his business has “not lost a dime.”
“We want all of our investors, Corinna included, to do well,” Welch told the Globe. “We want their loyalty and vision to be rewarded.”
BioSpace Temperature Poll
Analyst Mark Schoenebaum, a biotech and pharmaceuticals analyst and medical doctor for ISI Group Evercore, has been running a Best Hair in Biopharma contest for several months now. So far, the candidates are Bristol-Myers Squibb Company‘s John Elicker, Receptos’ Chief Executive Officer Faheem Hasnain, Celgene‘s Vice President of Investor Relations Patrick Flanigan and Acorda Therapeutics’ Ron Cohen.
We want to know what our BioSpace community thinks: Who do you believe actually has the Best Hair in BioPharma?
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