As an attorney who specializes in intellectual property for the entertainment industry, my practice is based in Hollywood, California.in 2007 I was initially intrigued by the emergence of a new company who represented itself as having ties to major studios and television networks for the purpose of advertising. Believing that perhaps we could do business together, as we were bound to have overlapping clientele, I started my research.
The company goes by the name Pliq (internet/mobile marketing), and is owned by Dieter P. Abt who also owns Meteor World Wide, a product placement agency, (well sort of, as they only represent one company really, which is Puma). This, despite Abt's claims of representing many companies. Well, sure enough one of my clients voiced interest in working with Pliq for a mobile campaign and asked what I knew of this new startup company.
Imagine my surprise when I uncovered the blatant and fraudulent business dealings of the owner. While self promotion is the norm in Hollywood I have to draw the line when a company is founded and mismanaged by the same individual who, as it turns out, ripped off City banks in England by lying about family, business, and personal affiliations in order to mislead investors and prospective clients. Abt tells people he is Swiss born and related to the Nestle family, which has been proved in court to be a false (see article below).
Dieter boasts of his Hollywood relationships with the likes of Sylvester Stallone, Suzanne Somers, Martha Stewart and Joan Collins. I wonder if any of these people who obviously take pride in their personal reputations are aware of Abt's shady business dealings and the utilization of their celebrity status to boost his self promotion. The fact is, Abt was arrested and tried with fraud in1993 for misleading bank officials into believing he was a multi-millionaire who possessed property and collateral he didn't own. I believe this is Abt's established pattern of deception and bears a remarkable similarity to Abt's management of his current companies. Word in the industry (Hollywood really is a small town) is that Pliq is strapped for cash and is seeking a second round of funding, due in no small part to Abt utilizing company funds for the purchase of property in Beverly Hills and expensive automobiles. It's a shame that the company which is staffed with sincere, hard working professionals are being misled by a charlatan who is not worthy of their trust and loyalty. It is my sincere hope investors do their own due diligence prior to funding Mr. Abt's house of cards.
Abt tricked banks, court told (26 July 13:58)
Former Town & County Catering chairman Dieter Abt allegedly hoodwinked City banks out of 2.75m (4.8 million U.S. Dollars) by posing as a multi-millionaire with a distinguished history, the Old Bailey heard last week.
As the fraud case got under way last Thursday, the prosecution alleged that Swiss-born Mr. Abt - who falsely claimed to be part of the Nestl family - turned to dishonesty in 1988 when he began lying to obtain bank loans and overdraft facilities.
To add substance to his aura of wealth, Mr. Abt set up a trust based in the tax haven of Liechtenstein. He gave managers of the trust a bogus list of his assets, which included paintings said to be worth 10m, property around the world, a collection of cars and prestigious company shares.
The bubble burst for Mr. Abt when the manager of the trust discovered he had been misled and resigned, the court heard. One of the banks then called in the police and Mr. Abt was arrested in 1993.
The court was told the loan to purchase Town & Country was legitimate, but John Woolfenden, private banking director at Guinness Mahon, claimed Mr. Abt conned the bank into lending him 600,000 using fake collateral.
Mr. Mahon added that it was Mr. Abt's lack of administrative skills which had contributed to the downfall of Town & County.
"He was a networker, he knew a lot of people and how to attract publicity, but he was not a good business administrator, which may be part of the reason why the company failed, " he said.
Mr. Abt was charged with four counts of obtaining property by deception and four counts of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception between 1988 and 1991.
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