2012-02-15 11:51:05 -
FSA Complaints and actions against Olympitis and his fellow UK Board Members of Petrocapital Resources PLC applauded by major shareholders of the company
February 14th 2012
A further, substantial shareholder of Petrocapital Resources PLC has welcomed both official complaints filed in 2010 against the former UK Board of the company, including Emmanuel ‘Manoli’ Olympitis, its Chairman.
The formal complaint filed on July 5th 2010 by Frankfurt based attorney Dr. Luh on behalf of numerous affected shareholders in Petrocapital, alleges misuse of public funds, breach of (fiduciary) duty and misrepresentation and dissemination of misleading and false information to the UK Regulators and the public, while the company was under Olympitis’ chairmanship.
A second complaint to the FSA was filed by a Liechtenstein based attorney, who had voiced his serious concerns about the management practices in a letter on May 25th 2010 to Olympitis directly, strongly criticizing
a February 15th 2010 public announcement in which a quick sale of the company’s stake in a North American oil company, Central Montana, was officially announced.
fr.advfn.com/news_L-attorney-Files-Formal-Complaint-With-UK-F-S- ..
The FSA complaints allege inter-alia however, that ‘on the investment in Central Montana, controlled by a close personal friend (of Olympitis), insufficient due-diligence had been conducted’, a suspicion which was later confirmed in a public announcement by Petrocapital’s new management in the UK publication ‘IBTimes’ on June 7th 2011, citing: ‘And it has also been working to understand the rationale behind the only investment the previous directors made - Central Montana Resources. The directors now believe they have a good understanding of the current cash position and an outline of where substantial amounts of the outgoing funds went over the last few years.’
www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/20110607/pcr-takes-legal-action-top-r ..
In view of the fact that the Central Montana sale has still not been completed more than two years later, the public company announcement Olympitis sanctioned, was clearly false and misleading at the time, as also criticized in the FSA complaint by Dr. Luh.
The complaints allege further, that Olympitis had made improper use of the company’s offices for personal business and that the true intent of his actions (filing a complaint to the UK Take-Over Panel) was to seize control of the company. The complaint to the Take-Over Panel was later dismissed as unfounded and unsubstantiated.
A public announcement released by one of the shareholder lawyers, which appeared on June 17th 2010 on PR Newswire said: ‘The shareholders' lingering concerns about Olympitis' past conduct and true intentions, particularly in view of his sudden and unexpected resignation as Chairman and CEO of Petrocapital literally one day the UK Takeover Panel announced that his alleged Rule 9 Takeover Code breach by certain shareholders back in September 2009, which had paralyzed the company and led to millions of pounds in market capital loss, was clearly dismissed as unsubstantiated, more than 8 months later in an official Company announcement’
www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/prnewswire/press_releases/Pennsyl ..
The new management of Petrocapital had also announced that legal actions had been taken in the High Court in London against members of the former UK Board.
Former Petrocapital COO, Axel von Schubert, resigned from the Board of the company after having shared these concerns with investors. He was consequently subjected to a personal defamation claim by Olympitis in the High Court in London in an attempt to gag him. Serious objections were raised publicly about £ 170.000 in investor funds being spent on a personal defamation campaign.
On April 4th 2010, the UK’s ‘Daily Mail’ newspaper wrote: ‘Dissidents, including von Schubert, who spoke to Financial Mail from a private island in the Bahamas, say that although eight million Euros (£7.1 million) was raised for the company to invest and backers include prestigious names such as Oppenheim, only one deal has been struck - to buy a one million Euros stake in a tiny oil prospector in America they claim is somehow linked to Olympitis. They claim that Olympitis's offices in Beauchamp Place in Knightsbridge, west London, as well as the services of a secretary are still being privately funded by Schaefer. They also claim he is paid £7,500 a month, plus an annual bonus of £50,000. 'That's a high burn rate for a company that's not making any money,' said von Schubert. 'The Takeover Panel doesn't understand the logic of the complaint.'
www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-1691984/PetroCapital-ro ..
He said that their lawyer had just sent a letter to PLUS Markets spelling out the damage to shareholders. "They should start looking into the circumstances of all this - just who might be acting in the interests of the shareholders,' he added.
'I am still a consultant to the company and sent a stern letter three weeks ago saying there are huge issues that need to be addressed. If I don't get a reply I will have to go to PLUS Markets. I see a ship sinking and I'm not going down with it.'
Axel von Schubert was widely thanked for his support in defending shareholder and investor interest, as documented in a public announcement by shareholder lawyer Mr. Ludescher on Bloomberg/PRNewswire on July 27th 2010:
"I'm relieved, and I've just received the news from Axel von Schubert by telephone from Monaco where he's entertaining friends on the Greek yacht Christina O," said Hermann Ludescher, a shareholder attorney.
"The shareholders and I wish to compliment and thank Axel von Schubert for his past honourable efforts in fighting for our rights against a series of past board abuses, often under difficult circumstances.
"The shareholders and I have always unconditionally stood behind Mr von Schubert in all his actions and completely approve of and agree with all his past steps taken to secure shareholder and investor interests.
"It is, after all, the opinion and voice of the shareholders which ultimately counts," said Mr Ludescher.
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&tkr=P5R:GR&sid=aqGWP .. 
