New Court Case Opened Against Carl Hirschmann

So far, court cases against Carl Hirschmann were varied, colourful, and confusing. By end of summer 2010, all court cases against him but one had been shelved, discontinued, or thrown out after out-of-court settlements had been reached in each case. Only one remained open, until now. 

Carl Hirschmann

Carl Hirschmann’s lawyers proved to be wizards in getting rid of damaging court cases this summer; open cases dropped like dead leaves in late autumn and closed faster than shops on the High Street. The power involved was not natural, it was magical; the magic applied was relying on what Carl has in abundance: Money.

The open case remaining was the demand of his ex-girlfriend for him to promise under oath not to cause her bodily harm or to publish intimate photos of her in any way. The verdict in that matter had been passed a month ago with the judge squiggling out of an uncomfortable situation. Doing some fast talking, the judge had ruled that it was proven that Carl had threatened his ex-girlfriend with causing her bodily harm during a heated discussion.

It ruled that Carl Hirschmann will have to promise under oath not to cause her bodily harm and that he will have to pay a state deposit of 500,000 Swiss Francs (£275,000). The state deposit would go forfeit against a (higher) fine should he renege on his pledge. The claimant had asked for a deposit of ten million Swiss Francs.

In the case of the pictures it was ruled that the alleged threat of disclosure was not proven but that they would be removed from Carl’s computers and other technical devices all the same as the pictures belong to the claimant. As all these devices are currently in the possession of the state attorney, the removing would be done by specialists. Neither oath nor forfeit were deemed necessary in connection with that part of the case. The verdict has been appealed against by the lawyers of Carl Hirschmann.

Now, a state attorney in Zurich has opened a court case against him. The allegations include causing bodily harm, sexual harassment of two women in separate incidents, and a case of sexual acts on a minor. The court now has time to decide if it will allow which if any of these allegations will be admitted to a hearing. The lawyers of Carl Hirschmann have challenged the attorney over ‘his hasty approach’ to the matter.

Carl Hirschmann meanwhile has announced that he will close his night venue Saint Germain on January 1st, 2011. He claimed that the decision for the closure had been made by him upon the death of his father. He announced his intention to get involved full time in the administration of the real estate that forms part of his inheritance.

Closing down the club seems like a smart move in the upcoming defence battle. The Saint Germain was the venue for the jeunesse dorée attracting a few prominent guests and many more pseudo prominent ones as well. The premises of the club have often been alleged to be the venue of serious drug dealing. Cutting this link must be a smart move in view of the serious allegations in question.

A line of defence that has been opened by Hirschmann’s lawyers earlier this year was a medical assessment as to a psychological disorder. Should things go really wrong, the job as professional real-estate dabbler will come in handy to better his position; a seemingly stable job should help him being kept out of prison should he be found guilty in any or several of the allegations. The board is set, let the game begin.

This article was originally published on Triond on 07/12/10.

Further reading
When a Sassy Headline Becomes an Embarrassment
Carl Hirschmann Repeat Performances
Carl Hirschmann: Things Money Can Buy

Carl Hirschmann: Things Money Can Buy

Last month, Carl Hirschmann’s lawyers put a spike into court proceedings under way. Now the Court of Appeal of Basel announced that proceedings against him had been closed without verdict. And a third case never reached courts, it was revealed at the same time. Things a lot of money can buy.

In December 2009, Carl Hirschmann was found guilty at a court hearing in Basel of having assaulted and caused bodily harm to a man in a bar. The claimant had asked for damages of $100,000 and received $5,000 plus the same amount in legal costs while Carl fined with $1,000. Hirschmann’s lawyers appealed against the verdict. Now the Court of Appeal issued a statement that the case had been closed without verdict as the claimant had retracted his claim. It’s astonishing what a few hundred million Dollars at your disposal can do for you.

In March 2010, Carl Hirschmann hit out again, this time in the Grand Hotel Dolder in Zurich. The case never came to court. In a refreshingly frank statement from Hirschmann’s lawyers, they confirmed that the damaged parties in both cases had been bought off in out-of-court proceedings together with some spat in Gstaad. The spat at the Dolder would probably have gone unnoticed by the wider public if the parties involved had refrained from a prolonged tug of war in the tabloids.

At the same time, Hirschmann was arrested for alleged sexual harassment in one case and alleged sexual acts on a minor in a second. After paying a $500,000 deposit, he was allowed to remain at large with the injunction of not leaving Zurich. While these cases were going on, the further case of his girlfriend was added to the list. She claimed that Carl had assaulted her during their relationship and that he had threatened her future bodily harm and disclosure of intimate photos. This case had been already on record but was under an injunction on request of the claimant. The injunction blew up in the judge’s face only because the press was just filing into the court building for another hearing while Hirschmann and his ex left it after their hearing.

The verdict on the two cases with sexual connotations should have been passed end of August but the lawyers pulled a stopper on that at the last minute. Claiming bias on part of the single judge dealing with the case, they played for time. After disclosure of the multiple retractions they probably hope to clear these cases in the same way to get their hands free for the real clincher of Hirschmann’s ex.

The problem with that latter case lies in the nature of the demands made by the claimant. She demands that Carl countermands his threats under oath and pays an adequate deposit to substantiate his oath. On the outside this might look easy. If he didn’t threaten her, he could just swear on it and pay the deposit. The crux of that is, this would be counted as an admission of guilt and he would be prosecuted for blackmail by the state attorney. The judge in that case therefore has to come to a decision of whether he was guilty or not and accordingly demand the oath or not. Obviously, having a previous conviction for sexual harassment or sexual acts on a minor would be unhelpful, to say the least.

The article was originally published on Triond on 06/10/10.

Further reading
When a Sassy Headline Becomes an Embarrassment
Carl Hirschmann Repeat Performances
Poor Rich Boy: Carl Hirschmann

Carl Hirschmann Jun. Died of Cancer

A speaker of the Hirschmann family announced the death by cancer of Carl Hirschmann Jun. at the University Hospital in Zurich. He also said that no statements would be made by his sons Michael and Carl Hirschmann on the occasion. Addressed specifically to the media, he stated that the funeral would be a family affair and that no media representatives were welcome to attend. 

Carl Hirschmann

Carl Hirschmann Jun. was one of the children of the founder of Jet Aviation Carl Hirschmann Sen. He served in the company under his father until he was chucked out in 1983. The affair behind the boot was so ridiculous, it is hardly credible. Carl Hirschmann Sen. had ordered a driver and car to take him from Basel to Baden-Baden in Germany. But driver and car were already on their way to Nice in the South of France to pick up Carl Jun.’s wife. Carl Hirschmann Sen. took this rather personally and chucked his son out of the company.

Carl Hirschmann Jun. was succeeded as crown prince by his brother Thomas Hirschmann. Carl spent the following years waging a war of attrition against both his father and his brother culminating in denouncing them for tax fraud. Carl Sen. and Thomas were found guilty and had to pay over 24 million pounds in taxes and fines.

Carl Hirschmann Sen. died in 1995 leaving Thomas in command of Jet Aviation. This changed in 2003, when a shareholder coup supervised by Carl’s widow Rita replaced the existing board of directors with herself and three of her cronies. Thomas was fired the same day. In 2005, the family sold the majority of shares to private equity firm Permira Funds and Carl Hirschmann Jun. replaced Rita on the board while retaining his shares. He even acted (oh irony) as CEO ad interim for a while until the company was sold to General Dynamics in 2008.

Carl Hirschmann Jun. died of cancer at the University Hospital of Zurich on July 30th, 2010 at the age of 61. His son Carl Hirschmann’s speaker Sacha Wigdorovits made it quite clear that the media would not be welcome at the funeral. Carl Hirschmann had a permanent media presence over the past year thanks to several scandals instigated by him.

The name Carl Hirschmann still seems to bring forth the worst in media sloppiness. Most of the headlines and articles pertaining to the death of Carl Hirschmann Jun. confuse him with his father. Accordingly, they credit him with having founded Jet Aviation. Considering the amount of capital needed for that, it would have been an extraordinary feat for an 18 year old.

Add this sloppiness to the earlier usually incompetent media coverage pertaining to Carl Hirschmann and his scandals, the pointed barb against any media presence at the funeral is highly understandable.

The article was originally published on Triond on 07/08/10.

Further reading
When a Sassy Headline Becomes an Embarrassment
The Hirschmann Family Saga
Carl Hirschmann Repeat Performances

The Hirschmann Family Saga

The saga of the Hirschmann family’s fortune and misfortune started in 1967 with the acquisition of a hangar on Basel Airport by Carl Hirschmann Senior. He founded Jet Aviation and earned the fabulous fortune the family now enjoys. 

Carl Hirschmann, David and Philipp Degen

In 1967, Carl Hirschman Senior bought a hangar on Basel Airport (then Airport Basel-Mulhouse; now Euroairport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg). He started a business for the maintenance of company owned jet aircrafts. Through careful acquisitions and expansion first into Saudi-Arabia and later into the US he established Jet Aviation as the world’s leading private maintenance company.

The establishment of the company in Basel with its premises on the airport was intentional. The airport in Basel is bi-nationally owned by Switzerland and France. With this placement, the company was able to hire people for its operation that under Swiss or French law wouldn’t have received work permits. All it took was some squiggling around.

Carl Hirschmann Sen. was very thrifty in his business dealings. His human resources department came up with a ploy whereby British citizens could be employed without paying taxes in either Switzerland or France. These employees usually only found out about the draw-backs when they returned to Britain and faced huge tax bills. But Jet Aviation had been able to employ them with cut throat low wages.

When Carl Hirschmann died in 1995, a full page obituary was placed in the Wall Street Journal. If you have led a life free of blame, you normally leave the writing of an obituary to the living. Carl Hirschmann Sen. didn’t take any chances, though, and had it ready for the day. It contained the revealing sentence ‘I do not choose to be a common man.’ Charmed, I’m sure.

What he left behind was a very common, rich, and divided family. The company was run by his son Thomas Hirschmann, a competent administrator without much vision. His obvious successor Carl Hirschmann Jun. had been kicked out of the company in 1983 over the trifling dispute over the use of a company car. The company’s shares were divided between his widow and his five children opening interesting vistas for all kinds of alliances in a family at odds.

In a first alliance, Thomas Hirschmann finally managed to get rid of the old board of directors of his father’s cronies in 2005 and to replace them with business people from the aviation sector. The new board was headed most notably by Moritz Sutter, founder of Crossair (signing these days as Swiss). The board’s business was to streamline the company into the success it had been under Carl Hirschmann Senior. The unwelcome news of the new boards for the family was that this would mean no dividends for some years to come.

As all the family constantly lived above their income, namely the widow with houses and estates scattered over half of Europe, this was simply impossible to bear. What cheek! A new alliance formed, and the new board was sacked after only six weeks in office and replaced with the widow herself and her cronies. For good measure, Thomas was kicked out as CEO as well.

The new board finally came to an agreement with Permira Funds over the sale of the company, whereby Carl Hirschmann Jun. retained his part of the shares. It is thought that the family cashed in almost a billion dollars for their 90 percent share (without Carl’s part). With Permira, Carl Hirschmann Jun. entered the board and even had a go as CEO ad interim during a crisis. Permira Funds sold the business in 2008 for 2.25 billion dollars; Carl Hirschmann Jun. was amply rewarded for his waiting. Three years had more than doubled the worth of his shares.

Carl Hirschmann Jun.’s son Carl Hirschmann is a walking calamity in his own right. I have followed his exploits in many articles. 

Originally published on Triond on 17/08/10.

Further reading
When a Sassy Headline Becomes an Embarrassment
Carl Hirschmann: Poor Rich Boy
Carl Hirschmann Repeat Performances

Carl Hirschmann: Repeat Performances

Carl Hirschmann might be born rich, but he doesn’t seem to be the learning kind. After last November’s spat when he was arrested by police, he has been arrested again on Tuesday. And this after hitting out at a guest in the Hotel Dolder Grand in Zurich but not connected with the incident. 

Carl Hirschmann

Carl Hirschmann was at it again. At the Hotel Dolder Grand in Zurich, notably one of the most expensive Hotels you might find in Switzerland, he hit out at former Mr. Switzerland Sven Melig and his female companion. The latter has placed complaint with police as to having sustained bodily harm in the attack. This fact alone sheds a new light on the case of the Poor Rich Boy. As the receiving end of the punches was Sven Melig for allegedly calling Carl’s female companions floozies, it sheds a very dim light on the Hirschmann intellect.

But that was not the reason for the renewed arrest on Tuesday. After the many faults in the last publicity spat, Zurich’s attorney general at least has learned his bit and the press release this time included the reason for the arrest: Sexual harassment in one case and one for sexual acts on a minor. The court decision on his further imprisonment during the investigations will be published on Thursday.

What weighs heavily against Hirschmann in both cases is the fact that neither allegation is a first. The case of sexual acts on a minor had been raised already some years back, and even though the case had been dropped at the time, its shadows had hounded him constantly. That a new case has been deposited sheds a very negative light on what happened with the last case.

Last November, he had been arrested for another case of sexual harassment, a case that has not yet progressed to a court proceeding and is probably still under investigation. Only days after that arrest and his subsequent release on bail, he had to appear in Basel in court in a case of causing bodily harm to a person in a bar during a night out in town.

The publicity company behind Carl Hirschmann’s in club Saint Germain is in free spin over the latest developments and has deferred all statements until Wednesday. I am somehow looking forward how they will get the Saint Germain out of the line this time, as the only reason to really go there had been the status conferred by Carl Hirschmann being the owner.

For Carl the arrest by police came just in time to not join the homeless. As he had been residing at the Hotel Dolder Grand since last August, the announcement by the hotel’s management that they would not further welcome him as a guest has made a tramp of him. Reading the press release by the Hotel manager, I had to admit that it was the most politely phrased ASBO I have come across in years, citing as cause for it ‘the recent behaviour of Mr. Hirschmann’. 

First published on Triond on 12/01/10.

Further reading
When a Sassy Headline Becomes an Embarrassment
Carl Hirschmann: Poor Rich Boy
Carl Hirschmann and Noemi Lenoir

Carl Hirschmann and Noemi Lenoir: Reality Check on Press Rumours

British and international press and media latched on to the alleged suicide attempt of VIP Noemi Lenoir, a person so unimportant she didn’t even make the list of the most unimportant VIPs in the world. In an attempt to spice up the story to news level, they added unchecked rumour but didn’t do their homework. 

Paris Hilton and Carl Hirschmann

Reporting the sordid story of an alleged suicide attempt of a working single mother was obviously not enough of news for the press and other media. To link the father of her child, someone called Makelele, into the story is understandable. Makelele shares the non-VIP status of Lenoir; seemingly he is (like millions of others) someone who plays a bit of football (soccer).

Desperate to make at least some impression, they then cited ‘friends’ of Lenoir linking her to non-VIP Carl Hirschmann which finally allowed them to introduce the name of Paris Hilton into the story. Mission accomplished, at last a VIP from the D-list. Journalism must be a tortuous profession. But in doing so, they showed themselves as the incompetent scribblers they usually are, they didn’t bother to check on any of the ‘facts’ they reported.

In the reports, press and media placed Carl Hirschmann in Zurich, currently on bail for the duration of an investigation into alleged sexual offences. Actually, Hirschmann is in St. Tropez, in Southern France, and nowhere near Switzerland. Last week, the bail requiring him to remain in Switzerland had been temporarily lifted (for a small deposit of £300,000) to allow him to visit his father at their family estate in St. Tropez.

Father Carl Hirschmann Jr. is reported as suffering from pancreatic cancer, but there is no official statement from the family on that account. Whatever the reasoning behind the Swiss judge’s decision to let him go, Carl Hirschmann left Switzerland on Friday by private plane for Nice. He was conveyed by limousine straight to St. Tropez. Rumours that he hosted a big party at Cannes on Saturday haven’t been substantiated. It is also unlikely, as there are too many real VIPs throwing well planned bashes right now.

The tortuous way to link Hirschmann into the Lenoir story was done by an alleged romantic tie between the two. In view of his direction of travel, I would say that the hospital in Paris where Noemi Lenoir was treated over the weekend was not on the agenda. The whole ‘romantic tie’ story is based on a coincidental snap showing the two in Zürich and the stories of all those ‘friends’ of Lenoir’s.

Suicides often are the result of a total breakdown of communication with friends and family. It is doubtful that anybody should be called a friend at such a time. And all those ‘friends’ inventing Lenoir’s life for her should be ashamed of themselves, as they obviously failed her and just don’t know anything. The involvement between Hirschmann and Lenoir might be as true as Carl’s self-invented involvement with Paris Hilton.

As usual: It’s all true, it said so in the newspapers. 

Article first published on Triond on 27/05/09.

Further reading
When a Sassy Headline Becomes an Embarrassment
Carl Hirschmann: Poor Rich Boy
Carl Hirschmann: Home Theatre

Oprah Winfrey and a Bag of Lies?

Oprah Winfrey's supposed ordeal in Zurich is coming more and more under scrutiny. And it seems that her story is starting to show cracks. It doesn't even matter if she is right, the publicity stunt has already gone wrong. Next time, she might talk it over with her public relations team beforehand. There are more positive ways to get in the headlines if you are desperate to get noticed.

Oprah Winfrey was feeling the pinch, and decided she needed to get some headlines to promote her little television network. As Tina Turner has become a very private person in old age, she was hindered from making Tina's marriage a newsworthy item to promote herself. What does the wise woman do? You take something out of context, blow it up, and hey presto, you're in the headlines again. Other fading former stars have to go to the jungle to get noticed a bit.

Going to not English speaking country always gives you the possibility of being misunderstood if you are too stupid or too lazy to learn the local language (and that works the other way round, too). Rather than attributing it to your own inability to master even one more language than English, you cry racism. How convenient. How racist. In Oprah Winfrey's case, the recipient of the unfounded allegation was a poor shop girl earning a few Swiss Francs an hour for all her work. Yes, we are so proud of your hoarded millions, Oprah Winfrey.

Meanwhile, Oprah already had to retract her fabrication publicly. This is what you call a publicity stunt gone wrong. Having millions in the bank (overseas?), the 'I am a poor black woman hounded by racism' wasn't the brightest ploy to brighten her eclipsed stardom. But then, nobody ever accused Oprah Winfrey of being bright. But it makes you wonder what she is paying all the guys and girls in her public relations department for. They could have told her that ages ago.

Meanwhile, that dratted handbag is causing the next storm for Oprah Winfrey. PETA activists have closed in on the bag in question and have identified it as real crocodile leather. They are crying foul, and point at Oprah Winfrey for having chosen that bag after receiving the PETA award in 2008. Are animal activists now racists, too?

What can we expect next in the unraveling of Oprah Winfrey? Will PETA retract its award? Why should it, Barack Obama still holds his Peace Nobel Prize and nobody knows why he got it in the first place, too. More probably, we will get another stupid stunt by Oprah Winfrey herself, as she seems so desperate to get headlines.

Further reading
If Short On Facts, Then Invent
JLS: Selling Off Aston
Being Politically Incorrect