Police want to quiz woman in charity scam investigation
Entrepreneur’s associate linked to fraud inquiry as his f irm folds
A BLONDE business associate of Irish entrepreneur Peter Conlon is being investigated as part of an international probe into an alleged multi-million euro scam to defraud charities.
German-born Anna Kupka, 44, served until recently on the board of directors of online donation platform Ammado AG.
It is the parent company of an Irishregistered firm called Pembroke Dynamic Internet Services that linked donors to charities, and the Zurich-based author has served as a director of a number of Dublin-based firms alongside businessman Conlon.
Before relocating to Switzerland, the pair lived within walking distance of one another in the capital’s most exclusive neighbourhood of Dublin 4.
Father-of-four Conlon was arrested just three days before Christmas by Swiss investigators as he attempted to board a flight at Zurich airport.
It is believed the authorities were tipped off and the 63-year-old from Carrick-on-Shannon has been in custody since Christmas Eve.
Meanwhile, it is believed investigators probing the multi-million euro case have already spoken to Ms Kupka.
A source familiar with the inquiry revealed: ‘Anna Kupka is part of the investigation to examine other roles of all the people on the board of directors. She was a member of the board of directors of the Swiss organisation.
‘Investigators had been looking for Conlon and he was arrested after they got a tip-off.
‘He is being held in Zurich and so far he is the only one arrested. No further arrests are expected.
‘It is believed several million euro has gone missing but no one knows yet how much is involved in the alleged embezzlement.
‘And no one knows how many organisations have lost money in this alleged embezzlement. It’s totally open how many organisation are involved and it looks as if these donations were made from all over the world.’
The High Court in Dublin was told last week that Pembroke Dynamic Internet Services had gone into liquidation over a €400,000 tax debt.
It was also claimed that cash, given by unsuspecting donors to charities, was used by Conlon to make a €40,000 payment to a woman he was ‘romantically involved’ with and to fund his lifestyle as well as his business.
At least 800 charities are believed to have been defrauded of funds and investigators following the money trail estimate at least €3.8m is missing. Among the charities believed to have been defrauded are Concern, the International Federation of Red Cross, Trócaire, the UNHCR, Save The Children, and local GAA clubs.
The alleged multi-million fraud was discovered after officials working at the Swiss-based IFRC became suspicious about why the charity was not receiving monthly donations from Ammado AG.
‘It is believed several million euro is missing’