Former Adria executives accused for airline’s collapse
The Specialised Prosecutor’s office has asked a Ljubljana court to formally open an investigation against the former German owners and management of Adria Airways for financial misdeeds that allegedly led to the Slovenian flag carrier’s collapse in October 2019. Those named as suspects are former Adria Airways CEO Arno Schuster, who managed the airline between 2016 and 2018, Adria Airways' last CEO Holger Kowarsch , the company’s Financial Advisor between March 2016 and December 2017, Klaus Platzer, as well as Eggo Laukamp, who was the airline’s Procurement Manager between 2014 and 2018. The prosecution has found evidence that the four of them illegally obtained 3.5 million euros by financially depleting Adria. Following the completion of the judicial investigation, the prosecution will decide whether to file charges against the suspects.
Adria’s bankruptcy administrator, Janez Pustatičnik, said it would make sense to file a lawsuit against Adria’s German-led management team, which oversaw its collapse. Prosecutors have noted that tracing the missing millions has been difficult as 4K Invest began shutting down companies linked to Adria through which the funds were funnelled. The turnaround fund had companies registered in Germany, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, and Malta. However, shortly after Adria declared bankruptcy, 4K began erasing links to its other businesses by shutting them down.
Adria Airways’ bankruptcy has led creditors to file 151 million euros in claims against the company with only 87.7 million euros in claims approved. Among them, the largest claim value, at 6.6 million euros, has been made by Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines. The two carriers wet-leased Adria’s aircraft. Jet owner AeroCentury has four million euros in claims, while the Rolls Royce Corporation has 2.2 million. Former Adria Airways staff are demanding a total of 15.5 million euros in unpaid wages, to be split among 500 employees. Mr Kowarsch himself has 67.600 euros in claims, while the carrier’s former Managing Director, Sven Kukemelk, is claiming 47.700 euros. Other claimants include Bank of America Merrill Lynch, EIC Aircraft Leasing, Sasof III Aviation Ireland, 8900973 Canada, Ljubljana Airport operator Fraport Slovenija and Intesa Sanpaolo Bank. The administrator is hoping to raise the finances through the sale of Adria Airways’ remaining assets, however, just 85.500 euros have been raised so far.
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