CROOK FRANCOIS DE Dietrich’s company has officially gone bust.
Accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers is now asking anyone who had dealings with ETIC Solutions, which had offices Ballybofey in Donegal and in Derry, or Mr de Dietrich, to contact them after appointing liquidators to the firm.
Last month the Financial Services Authority (FSA) was granted permission to appoint provisional receivers in the High Court in a bid to protect investors. The FSA earlier obtained court orders to stop any unauthorised activity, freeze £20m and prevent ETIC from making payments.
An application to have ETIC Solutions wound up is due to be heard on April 14. In January, de Dietrich was ordered to serve an 18-month prison sentence after he failed to comply with a court order insisting he reveal where his assets were held.
He dodged court and police were unable to trace him since, although he released a statement claiming the firm was above board and he would repay all cash owed.
The FSA said: “ETIC and Francois de Dietrich were performing activity without our authorisation. If the court finds they were offering financial services without our authorisation, people that invested money with ETIC and/or de Dietrich will not be able to take a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service or have access to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.”
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