THE following is an edited version of a letter sent by a solicitor on behalf of Mr de Dietrich six weeks ago.
Dear Sirs
It has been brought to our attention that you propose….. to publish an item in the course of which our above client will be named as being involved in a suspected “Ponzi scheme”, that is, a sophisticated fraud.
According to our information and instructions, it will be claimed, among other things, that our client has been involved in defrauding, to a substantial extent, a number of “investors”, by falsely and untruthfully promising an unusually high rate of return on “investments” made.
We are instructed to place on the record that any such allegations are wholly without foundation, are totally inaccurate, and are grossly defamatory.
Our client has not been asked for any comment in relation to the matters, and had he been, he would have been in a position to advise you of the baseless nature of your information.
We are instructed that, had the most rudimentary enquiries been made by yourselves, it would have been clear that no complaint of fraud has been made against our client.
We are instructed to demand that any material relating to our client be shown to him, in advance of publication, for comment, and for an opportunity to correct potential inaccuracies.
We are further instructed that if defamatory material is published notwithstanding this correspondence, we are to seek immediate relief from the High Court, to include injunctive relief and damages.
The writer can be contacted on 086 XXX XXXX should you wish to discuss this matter further.
Yours sincerely
XXXXXXXX
Donegaldaily.com has contacted the lawyer to ask him if his client plans to hand himself over to the authorities in Northern Ireland on the foot of the warrant for his arrest.
