Wolfgang Hoeft and the MW Group – company network, judgments, residence in Switzerland
Fortune · Fincap · MW Global · MW Invest · Quira · Canton of Lucerne
Wolfgang Georg Hoeft (born 1954) has long been a leading figure of the MW Group. He is the sole member of the management board (Vorstand) of Fortune Investment Trust AG in Baden-Baden and was managing director of numerous MW companies in Dorsten, Wiesbaden, Bonn and Stuttgart. The MW Group was active in financial services, insurance and investment products. Handelsblatt reports: “Wolfgang Hoeft: Der Puppenspieler und das 50-Millionen-Euro-Rätsel” (The puppeteer and the 50-million-euro mystery). Today the MW companies are run by Hartmut Klee as managing director. Since August 2024, Wolfgang Hoeft has been resident in Switzerland, in the Canton of Lucerne.
New: resident in the Canton of Lucerne since August 2024
According to an official residence certificate issued by the competent residents’ registration office on 8 May 2026, Wolfgang Georg Hoeft has had his legal residence in the Canton of Lucerne since 15 August 2024. Belgium is given as the place he moved from.
None of this shows in the German commercial registers. When Wolfgang Hoeft’s departure as managing director of Fincap Global Investments GmbH (15 April 2025) and of MW Global Investments GmbH (29 January 2026) was entered in the register, he was listed as living in Bruges each time (“Brügge (Belgien)” and “Brügge”). In both companies his successor is Hartmut Klee. Register services such as North Data and Moneyhouse also still list Wolfgang Hoeft in Bruges.
Wolfgang Hoeft is currently not registered as an officer of any company in the Swiss commercial register. He used to be: from 2007 to 2017, with a break in 2007/2008, he sat on the board of Mycap Holding AG in Zurich, at times as chairman and delegate. In 2008, Mycap Holding AG was the 75% founding shareholder of Fincap Investment CVBA in Bruges, whose sole director was Wolfgang Hoeft. In March 2017, the bankruptcy proceedings against Mycap Holding AG were discontinued for lack of assets; in June 2017 the company was deleted ex officio.
Not to be confused: MW Invest AG in Oberkirch LU is a restaurant business and, according to the commercial register, has nothing to do with Wolfgang Hoeft or with MW Invest I–III GmbH in Dorsten.
For creditors: German judgments can be recognised and enforced in Switzerland under the Lugano Convention. If you hold an enforceable title against Wolfgang Hoeft, you are welcome to get in touch with us.
Company overview: companies, roles and shareholdings
Click or tap a company or a person: roles, shares and register data appear directly below, and the connections are highlighted.
- Register entry
- Register analysis only
- Liquidation, strike-off or bankruptcy
- Wolfgang Hoeft’s role ended
- No connection
- According to a residence certificate of 8 May 2026, legally resident in the Canton of Lucerne since 15 Aug 2024, moved there from Belgium.
- German register entries of 15 Apr 2025 and 29 Jan 2026 still give his place of residence as Bruges.
- Member of the management board of Fortune Investment Trust AG since 2016; according to the register analysis, sole shareholder of MW Global Investments GmbH.
- In a judgment of 18 Sep 2025 (names anonymised), the Cologne Higher Regional Court bases its decision on the insufficiently disputed submission that the first defendant was the “leading mind and ‘mastermind’ within the network of companies” (see text).
- Managing director of Fincap Global Investments GmbH (since 15 Apr 2025), MW Invest II GmbH (since 15 Apr 2025), MW Invest I GmbH (since 10 Jul 2025), MW Invest III GmbH (since 25 Jul 2025) and MW Global Investments GmbH (since 29 Jan 2026).
- At Fincap Global Investments GmbH and MW Global Investments GmbH, Wolfgang Hoeft’s successor as managing director.
- Previously managing director of several MW companies (2013–2018, 2020–2021) and of Quira Finance GmbH (2022–2024).
- Managing director of Quira Finance GmbH since 13 Oct 2021, succeeding Wolfgang Hoeft.
- Since 21 Jan 2025 managing director and, according to the register analysis (registercheck), sole shareholder of Aremis Finanz Holding GmbH, which holds 100% of Quira Finance GmbH.
- Managing director of Quira Assekuranzmakler GmbH from 19 Jul 2024 to 7 Jan 2025.
Parent company and MW companies in Germany
- Register, seat: Amtsgericht Mannheim HRB 744483, Sophienstraße 2, 76530 Baden-Baden (Bonn until 2022)
- Formerly MW Unternehmensverwaltungs AG and MW Finance AG.
- 15 Feb 2016: Registered in Bonn as MW Unternehmensverwaltungs AG; management board: Wolfgang Hoeft.
- 1 Jul 2019: Renamed MW Finance AG.
- 28 Oct 2020: Share capital €2,000,000.
- 21 Jul 2022: Seat moved to Baden-Baden (Mannheim Local Court) as Fortune Investment Trust AG; Wolfgang Hoeft remains sole member of the management board.
- No change in the management board has been registered since 2016 (as of 6 Nov 2026).
- According to the register analysis, the 2020 and 2021 annual accounts list stakes in, among others, companies named MW Finance GmbH, a company then named MW Vermögens- und Finanzberatung GmbH and Quira Finance GmbH.
- Who holds the shares of Fortune Investment Trust AG is not public.
Source: German commercial register (North Data register analysis)
- Register, seat: Amtsgericht Mannheim HRB 748004, Sophienstraße 2, 76530 Baden-Baden (Stuttgart until 2023)
- Formerly MW Mittelständische Wirtschaftsberatung GmbH, MW Vermögens- und Finanzberatung GmbH, MW Finance GmbH.
- 24 Feb 2016: Registered in Stuttgart as MW Mittelständische Wirtschaftsberatung GmbH.
- 17 Jan 2020: Hartmut Klee managing director.
- 31 Aug 2021: Hartmut Klee no longer managing director; new managing director (name redacted); share capital €100,000.
- 29 Dec 2021: Gentgen - MW Finance GmbH is merged into the company (then MW Finance GmbH).
- 27 Jul 2023: Seat moved to Baden-Baden, to the address of Fortune Investment Trust AG.
- 4 Apr 2025: New articles, name Fortune Vermögensplan GmbH.
- Shareholder according to the register analysis: Fortune Investment Trust AG.
Source: German commercial register (North Data register analysis)
- Register, seat: Amtsgericht Gelsenkirchen HRB 18529, Marienstraße 18a, 46284 Dorsten (Wiesbaden 2022–2024, Bonn before)
- Formerly MW Mittelständische Vermögens- und Finanzberatung GmbH and MW Vermögens- und Finanzberatung GmbH.
- 23 Jan 2006: Registered in Bonn as MW Mittelständische Vermögens- und Finanzberatung GmbH.
- 3 Dec 2012: Wolfgang Hoeft managing director.
- 8 Jul 2013: Hartmut Klee managing director, Wolfgang Hoeft no longer managing director.
- 23 May 2017: Hartmut Klee no longer managing director.
- 25 May 2020: Wolfgang Hoeft managing director again, alongside another managing director (name redacted).
- 10 Aug 2022: Seat moved to Wiesbaden.
- 27 Jul 2023: New articles, name Fincap Global Investments GmbH.
- 26 Aug 2024: Seat moved to Dorsten (Gelsenkirchen Local Court); managing director: Wolfgang Hoeft.
- 15 Apr 2025: Hartmut Klee managing director; Wolfgang Hoeft, registered as living in “Brügge (Belgien)”, no longer managing director.
- Share capital €1,000,000.
- Fortune Investment Trust AG is named in the shareholder list of 2017; according to the register analysis, it is a shareholder.
- According to reports by investors’ law firms, defendant in several investor lawsuits (among others Bonn Regional Court, Cologne Higher Regional Court).
Source: German commercial register (North Data register analysis)
- Register, seat: Amtsgericht Wiesbaden HRB 30090, Bahnhofstraße 51–53, 65185 Wiesbaden
- Formerly MW FINANCIAL and ECONOMIC SERVICES GmbH and MW - Ganzheitliche Finanzberatung GmbH.
- 19 Jan 2010: Registered as MW FINANCIAL and ECONOMIC SERVICES GmbH.
- 8 Jun 2012: Wolfgang Hoeft managing director.
- 15 Oct 2015: Hartmut Klee managing director, Wolfgang Hoeft no longer managing director.
- 23 May 2017: Wolfgang Hoeft managing director again, Hartmut Klee no longer managing director.
- 14 Dec 2017: Seat moved to Wiesbaden as MW - Ganzheitliche Finanzberatung GmbH.
- 27 Dec 2022: New articles, name MW Global Investments GmbH.
- 29 Jan 2026: Hartmut Klee managing director; Wolfgang Georg Hoeft, registered as living in “Brügge”, no longer managing director.
- Shareholder according to the register analysis (North Data): Wolfgang Hoeft, 100%. Shareholder lists filed on 4 Mar 2024 and 8 Mar 2024.
Source: German commercial register (North Data register analysis)
- Register, seat: Amtsgericht Gelsenkirchen HRB 19128, Marienstraße 18a, 46284 Dorsten (Bonn until 2025)
- Formerly FoKuS-24 Unabhängige Versicherungsmakler GmbH, WM unabhängige Versicherungsmakler GmbH, MW - Ganzheitliche Finanzberatung I - GmbH, MW Finance GmbH.
- 16 Nov 2009: Registered as an insurance broker (FoKuS-24 Unabhängige Versicherungsmakler GmbH).
- 9 Oct 2019: Seat Bonn, name MW Finance GmbH; Wolfgang Hoeft managing director.
- 22 Nov 2021: Wolfgang Hoeft no longer managing director; share capital €500,000.
- 10 Jul 2025: Renamed MW Invest I GmbH; Hartmut Klee managing director.
- 18 Aug 2025: Seat moved to Dorsten.
Source: German commercial register (North Data register analysis)
- Register, seat: Amtsgericht Gelsenkirchen HRB 18544, Marienstraße 18a, 46284 Dorsten (Düsseldorf until 2024)
- Formerly EXAKT Versicherungsdienst unabhängige Versicherungsmakler GmbH, EXAKT - MW Finance GmbH, MW Finance GmbH.
- 4 Mar 2002: Registered in Düsseldorf as an insurance broker.
- 29 Sep 2020: Renamed EXAKT - MW Finance GmbH.
- 17 Jan 2022: Name MW Finance GmbH; two other companies are merged into it.
- 3 Sep 2024: Renamed MW Invest II GmbH, seat moved to Dorsten.
- 15 Apr 2025: Hartmut Klee managing director; the previous managing director (name redacted) leaves.
- Share capital €500,000.
- Named in the shareholder lists: Fortune Investment Trust AG (2019) and today’s Fincap Global Investments GmbH (2015, 2019).
Source: German commercial register (North Data register analysis)
- Register, seat: Amtsgericht Gelsenkirchen HRB 19160, Marienstraße 18a, 46284 Dorsten (Wiesbaden until 2025)
- Formerly a broker firm from Eltville am Rhein and MW Finance GmbH.
- 15 Jul 2003: Registered in Eltville am Rhein as a broker firm.
- 23 Nov 2017: Hartmut Klee managing director.
- 22 Jan 2018: Hartmut Klee no longer managing director; seat Wiesbaden.
- 25 Aug 2020: Renamed MW Finance GmbH.
- 25 Jul 2025: Seat moved to Dorsten, share capital €500,000; Hartmut Klee managing director; then named MW Invest III GmbH.
- Named in the shareholder lists: today’s Fincap Global Investments GmbH (2017) and Aremis Finanz Holding GmbH (2023, then JF Finanz Holding GmbH).
Source: German commercial register (North Data register analysis)
Quira and Aremis
- Register, seat: Amtsgericht Düsseldorf HRB 112168, Burggrafenstraße 5, 40545 Düsseldorf (Baden-Baden 2021–2026, Bonn before)
- 22 Jan 2021: Registered in Bonn with share capital of €100,000; managing director: Wolfgang Hoeft.
- 13 Oct 2021: Katharina Michajlow managing director, Wolfgang Hoeft no longer managing director; seat moved to Baden-Baden.
- 23 Mar 2022: Hartmut Klee additional managing director.
- 25 Jul 2022: Share capital €500,000.
- 19 Jul 2024: Hartmut Klee leaves; another managing director (name redacted), who left on 8 Jan 2025.
- 4 Mar 2026: Seat moved to Düsseldorf; managing director: Katharina Michajlow.
- According to the register analysis, listed as a holding in the 2020 and 2021 annual accounts of Fortune Investment Trust AG.
- Aremis Finanz Holding GmbH is named in the shareholder list of 26 Aug 2025; according to the register analysis (registercheck), it is now the sole shareholder.
- According to Handelsblatt (7 Mar 2025), Hoeft was “in charge” at Quira’s parent company at the time; a former MW investor received a Quira letter signed by Hoeft as “Portfolio” manager in October 2024.
Source: German commercial register (North Data register analysis)
- Register, seat: Amtsgericht Düsseldorf HRB 102673, Burggrafenstraße 5, 40545 Düsseldorf
- 22 Nov 2023: Registered; insurance, financial investment and real-estate loan brokerage; managing director (name redacted).
- 19 Jul 2024: Katharina Michajlow managing director (until 7 Jan 2025).
- Quira Finance GmbH is named in the shareholder lists (2023–2024).
Source: German commercial register (North Data register analysis)
- Register, seat: Amtsgericht Mannheim HRB 753292, Sophienstraße 2, 76530 Baden-Baden (Dorsten until 2025)
- Formerly JF Finanz Holding GmbH.
- 14 Nov 2022: Registered in Dorsten as JF Finanz Holding GmbH; managing director (name redacted).
- 21 Jan 2025: Renamed Aremis Finanz Holding GmbH, seat moved to Baden-Baden; Katharina Michajlow managing director.
- 13 Jan 2026: An additional managing director (name redacted), removed from the register on 29 Oct 2026.
- Shareholder according to the register analysis (registercheck): Katharina Michajlow, 100%. Holding: Quira Finance GmbH, 100%.
- Same address as Fortune Investment Trust AG.
- An “Aremis Trust reg.” already existed in Schaan (Liechtenstein) from 2007 to 2013; it was renamed Mycap Trust reg. in 2013, and Wolfgang Hoeft joined its board of trustees in 2014 (see there).
Source: German commercial register (North Data register analysis)
Belgium, Switzerland and Liechtenstein
- Register, seat: KBO 0875.134.988, Bruges (Belgium)
- 15 Jul 2005: Founded (deed of 6 Jul 2005, registered 15 Jul 2005) with capital of €18,600; shareholders: Wolfgang Hoeft (75%) and FIV Capital Consulting GmbH, Cologne (25%); sole manager (zaakvoerder): Wolfgang Hoeft.
- 26 Aug 2008: Capital increased to €100,000.
- 17 Sep 2015: Struck off ex officio for failing to file annual accounts for three consecutive years.
- 21 Jan 2019: Judicial dissolution with immediate closure (Ghent Enterprise Court, Bruges division).
- Founding shareholder (12.5%) of Fincap Investment CVBA.
Source: KBO, Belgian Official Gazette
- Register, seat: KBO 0896.673.839, Bruges (Belgium)
- 25 Mar 2008: Founded as a cooperative (deed of 19 Mar 2008, registered 25 Mar 2008) with fixed capital of €100,000: Mycap Holding AG, Zurich (75%), Wolfgang Hoeft (12.5%), Fincom Investment BVBA (12.5%); sole director: Wolfgang Hoeft.
- 31 Dec 2011: Last annual accounts (2011): subscribed capital €11.8m, total assets €14.9m; 100% holding in FINCAP GLOBAL INVESTORS Trust reg., Liechtenstein.
- 16 Sep 2016: Struck off ex officio for no longer filing annual accounts.
- 7 Jan 2019: Judicial dissolution with immediate closure (Ghent Enterprise Court, Bruges division).
Source: KBO, Belgian Official Gazette
- Register, seat: CHE-113.507.591, Zurich (Switzerland)
- 15 Mar 2007: Registered with share capital of CHF 500,000; Wolfgang Hoeft chairman and delegate of the board.
- 26 Sep 2007: Share capital CHF 1,000,000; planned stake in a “MW Global Investment AG” still to be founded, probably in Vaduz.
- 25 Mar 2008: Founding shareholder (75%) of Fincap Investment CVBA in Bruges.
- 10 Dec 2009: Wolfgang Hoeft again chairman and delegate of the board, with sole signature.
- 11 Feb 2015: Wolfgang Hoeft now only a board member; the only registered officer until the company was deleted.
- 9 Mar 2017: Bankruptcy proceedings discontinued for lack of assets; the company had had no registered address since 2 Mar 2017.
- 16 Jun 2017: Deleted ex officio (published on 21 Jun 2017).
- The Zurich commercial register lists Wolfgang Georg Hoeft as a German citizen “in Brugge (BE)”. No current Swiss mandate is registered (as of 6 Nov 2026).
Source: Zefix, SHAB
- Register, seat: FL-0002.307.858-5, Vaduz (Liechtenstein)
- Today FORTUNE INVEST AG in Liquidation.
- 31 Dec 2011: 100% held by Fincap Investment CVBA, according to the latter’s 2011 annual accounts.
- 15 May 2018: Liquidation; Wolfgang Hoeft no longer on the board.
- 24 May 2023: Renamed FORTUNE INVEST AG with a new board (other persons); in liquidation again since 2025.
- On 29 Apr 2024, Business Insider reported, citing investigators, that investor money also went to an account in Liechtenstein in favour of the “Fincap Global Investors Trust”, beneficial owner: Wolfgang Hoeft.
- Register analysis only (North Data); the Liechtenstein commercial register was not inspected.
Source: North Data register analysis
- Register, seat: FL-0002.225.255-0, Vaduz (Schaan until 2013), Liechtenstein
- Formerly Aremis Trust reg..
- 26 Apr 2007: Founded in Schaan as Aremis Trust reg. by a trust company acting as fiduciary founder; trust fund CHF 30,000; purpose includes financial business, asset management and holdings.
- 18 Sep 2007: Trust fund increased to CHF 1,000,000 (a few days before Mycap Holding AG also raises its capital to CHF 1,000,000).
- 25 Oct 2007: New member of the board of trustees (name redacted), who from October 2007 is also chairman of the board of Mycap Holding AG; until October 2009.
- 31 Mar 2010: Dissolved ex officio and put into liquidation because the annual accounts from 2007 on had not been filed despite reminders from the tax administration.
- 24 Mar 2011: Liquidation lifted after the annual accounts were filed late.
- 13 Nov 2012: Dissolved ex officio again: annual accounts from 2010 on not filed.
- 17 Jan 2013: Liquidation lifted again.
- 5 Mar 2013: Renamed Mycap Trust reg., seat moved from Schaan to Vaduz.
- 17 Jul 2014: Wolfgang Hoeft becomes a member of the board of trustees with sole signing authority; his acceptance of 9 Jul 2014 was certified by a notary in Cologne, with Bruges given as his place of residence.
- 28 Aug 2018: Dissolved by resolution of the holder of the founder’s rights; liquidation by a Vaduz company; according to the register analysis (North Data), Wolfgang Hoeft no longer on the board of trustees.
- 29 Nov 2019: Deletion from the commercial register requested (third call to creditors on 5 Sep 2018); the deletion date itself is not in the file.
- Since 2025 the name “Aremis” has also been used by Katharina Michajlow’s holding company in Baden-Baden; there is no registered connection.
- The founder’s rights were held by Liechtenstein trust companies; the register file does not show who stood behind the trust economically.
Source: Register file of the Liechtenstein Office of Justice (commercial register)
Former companies in Germany
- Register, seat: Amtsgericht Bonn HRB 14827, Bonn (Cologne until 2006)
- Formerly FIV Capital Consulting GmbH.
- 28 Nov 2002: Registered in Cologne as FIV Capital Consulting GmbH; managing director: Wolfgang Hoeft.
- 6 Jul 2005: Founding shareholder (25%) of Fincom Investment BVBA in Bruges.
- 3 Dec 2012: Wolfgang Hoeft no longer managing director; new managing director (name redacted).
- 23 Mar 2015: Liquidation; liquidator: Wolfgang Hoeft.
- 21 Jul 2026: Deleted ex officio for lack of assets.
Source: German commercial register (North Data register analysis)
- Register, seat: Amtsgericht Stuttgart HRB 775134, Stuttgart (Baden-Baden until 2020)
- Formerly Gentgen Finanzdienstleistungen GmbH.
- 16 Jun 2006: Registered in Baden-Baden as Gentgen Finanzdienstleistungen GmbH.
- 30 Jul 2020: Wolfgang Hoeft and another person (name redacted) managing directors.
- 24 Aug 2020: Renamed Gentgen - MW Finance GmbH, seat Stuttgart.
- 8 Jun 2021: Wolfgang Hoeft no longer managing director.
- 29 Dec 2021: Merged into the then MW Finance GmbH (today Fortune Vermögensplan GmbH) and deleted.
Source: German commercial register (North Data register analysis)
Not to be confused
- 30 Dec 2022: Bonn Regional Court (17 O 108/22, names anonymised): the Belgian cooperative to which the investors’ shares were to be transferred “never existed and/or was never entered in the Belgian business register”. According to Business Insider (3 Mar 2024), the “MW Global Investments CVBA” is not entered in the Belgian register; according to Handelsblatt (7 Mar 2025), its alleged register number leads to the Fincap cooperative struck off in 2016.
- The Belgian business register (KBO) has no entry under this or a similar name (search of 6 Nov 2026).
Source: KBO; Bonn Regional Court, 17 O 108/22
- Register, seat: CHE-349.470.070, Oberkirch (Canton of Lucerne)
- Formerly HIRSCHEN OBERKIRCH AG.
- 20 May 2016: Restaurant company HIRSCHEN OBERKIRCH AG is renamed MW Invest AG.
- Same name, but no registered connection to MW Invest I–III GmbH in Dorsten: none of its registered persons is Wolfgang Hoeft, Hartmut Klee or Katharina Michajlow.
Source: Zefix, SHAB
Details based on the German commercial register (announcements and shareholder lists in North Data’s register analysis), the Belgian business register KBO and the Belgian Official Gazette, the Swiss commercial register (Zefix, Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce SHAB), the register file of the Liechtenstein Office of Justice and North Data for Liechtenstein, GLEIF and judgments in the NRWE case-law database; as of 6 Nov 2026. The residence in the Canton of Lucerne is based on an official residence certificate of 8 May 2026. Other persons’ names are redacted; this page asserts no claims and makes no allegations against them.
Timeline of the companies
Belgium and Liechtenstein
In Bruges, Wolfgang Hoeft was the sole manager of Fincom Investment BVBA (founded 2005, 75% owned by him at founding) and the sole director of Fincap Investment CVBA (founded 2008). Both companies were struck off the Belgian business register ex officio because they stopped filing annual accounts (2015 and 2016), and both were dissolved by court order in 2019. According to its last annual accounts (2011), Fincap Investment CVBA held 100% of FINCAP GLOBAL INVESTORS Trust reg. in Liechtenstein; according to the register analysis, Wolfgang Hoeft sat on its board until 2018.
In Liechtenstein, according to the complete register file of the Office of Justice, Wolfgang Hoeft became a member of the board of trustees of Mycap Trust reg. in Vaduz in July 2014, with sole signing authority; according to the register analysis, he left with the liquidation in August 2018. The trust had been founded in Schaan in April 2007 as “Aremis Trust reg.” by a trust company. In September 2007 its trust fund was increased to 1 million francs, a few days before Mycap Holding AG in Zurich also raised its capital to 1 million francs. From 2007 to 2009 the board of trustees included the same person who chaired the board of Mycap Holding AG at the time. In 2010 and 2012 the registry dissolved the trust ex officio because no annual accounts had been filed; both times the dissolution was lifted after the accounts were filed late. In 2013 it was renamed Mycap Trust reg., and in 2014 Wolfgang Hoeft joined: he had his signature certified by a notary in Cologne and gave Bruges as his place of residence. The trust was dissolved in August 2018 and its deletion requested in November 2019. Since 2025 the name “Aremis” has also been used by Katharina Michajlow’s holding company in Baden-Baden; there is no registered connection between the two.
On 29 April 2024, Business Insider reported, citing investigators, that investor money also went to an account in Liechtenstein in favour of the “Fincap Global Investors Trust”, whose beneficial owner was Wolfgang Hoeft.
Judgments: “Mastermind” and Ponzi scheme
On 18 September 2025, the Cologne Higher Regional Court (24 U 51/25) essentially upheld a judgment of the Bonn Regional Court of 30 April 2025 (2 O 377/24): an investor is awarded €276,237.38 plus interest. Names are anonymised in the published judgment. According to the judgment, the claimant, referring among other things to the results of the criminal investigation, set out in detail that the first defendant was the “leading mind and ‘mastermind’ within the network of companies” (our translation) and that money was transferred to an account in favour of a trust whose “beneficial owner” was the first defendant. The defendants did not adequately dispute this, and the court based its decision on it. Also held liable are a group company (GmbH) and its former managing director. The Higher Regional Court did not grant leave to appeal on points of law.
Earlier, on 30 December 2022, the Bonn Regional Court (17 O 108/22) ordered two defendants to pay damages to an investor. According to the judgment, the Belgian cooperative to which the investors’ shares were to be transferred (anonymised in the judgment) “never existed and/or was never entered in the Belgian business register”. The court based its decision on the claimant’s undisputed submission that the business model had been designed from the outset to deceive and harm customers. On 22 August 2024, the Cologne Higher Regional Court (24 U 24/24) upheld an order to pay €152,904.35 to an investor. According to a report by the law firm Meyer-Köring, the Frankfurt am Main Higher Regional Court also ruled in favour of an investor (€153,000) on 27 November 2025 (5 U 18/24), because no sales prospectus had been published for the silent partnership interests (stille Beteiligungen) in an MW Finance GmbH.
The MW Group in the press
- „Der Kunde ist dumm“: Wie ein verurteilter Finanzjongleur seit Jahren von Anlegern Millionen abzockt (Business Insider, German: “The customer is stupid”: how a convicted financial juggler has been ripping off investors for years)
- Erst Abzockeropfer, dann Steuerschulden (Business Insider, German: a pensioner lost his savings and still had to pay tax on fictitious profits)
- Nach Millionen-Abzocke durch untergetauchten Unternehmer (Business Insider, German: how defrauded investors are now recovering their money)
- Der Puppenspieler, eine Escortdame und das 50-Millionen-Euro-Rätsel (Handelsblatt, German)
- Wolfgang Hoeft: Der Puppenspieler und das 50-Millionen-Euro-Rätsel (Handelsblatt Crime podcast, German)
Who is Wolfgang Hoeft?
Wolfgang Hoeft is at the centre of one of Germany’s biggest financial scandals. As long-standing member of the management board of Fortune Investment Trust AG in Baden-Baden and managing director of the MW Group (MW Finance GmbH, MW Global Investments GmbH, Fincap Global Investments GmbH), he is alleged to have caused investor losses of more than 50 million euros. Hoeft built a complex network of companies spanning several countries: Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The Belgian connections led to Fincap Investment in Bruges, which was struck off ex officio in 2016. According to Business Insider (3 Mar 2024), the alleged MW Global Investments CVBA, in which investors were supposed to invest, is not entered in the Belgian business register; according to Handelsblatt (7 Mar 2025), its alleged register number leads to the Fincap cooperative struck off in 2016.
Katharina Michajlow succeeded Hoeft as managing director of Quira Finance GmbH in October 2021. Since January 2025 she has also been managing director of Aremis Finanz Holding GmbH in Baden-Baden; according to the register analysis, she is its sole shareholder, and Aremis holds 100% of Quira Finance GmbH. When we tried to contact her in Cologne, she said she had no influence on Hoeft’s business.
How the system works
According to Handelsblatt (7 Mar 2025), Hoeft’s brochures named BlackRock Global Equities, JP Morgan Funds and Fidelity Funds. According to investigators (Business Insider, 3 Mar 2024) and several court judgments, however, investor money largely went into a Ponzi scheme in which new deposits fund the “returns” of earlier investors. According to Business Insider, MW Group training material described customers as “stupid” and unable to do maths.
According to Handelsblatt, Hoeft handed out gold bars and coins to employees at the Christmas party in December 2016 at the Bad Homburg casino.
Recent developments
Until March 2026, Quira Finance GmbH was registered in Baden-Baden at the same address as Fortune Investment Trust AG (Sophienstraße 2); since 4 March 2026 its seat has been in Düsseldorf. According to Handelsblatt (7 Mar 2025), a former MW investor received a letter from Quira Finance GmbH at the end of October 2024, which said it managed his securities account and proposed changes to the portfolio; it was signed by Wolfgang Hoeft as “Portfolio” manager. The investor says he never invested with Quira. According to Handelsblatt, Hoeft was then “in charge” at Quira’s parent company; according to the register analysis, Aremis Finanz Holding GmbH is now Quira Finance GmbH’s sole shareholder.
In 2024 and 2025, the MW companies were renamed: three companies called MW Finance GmbH became MW Invest I, II and III GmbH with their seat in Dorsten, and a fourth became Fortune Vermögensplan GmbH in Baden-Baden. Today, Hartmut Klee is managing director of Fincap Global Investments GmbH, MW Global Investments GmbH and MW Invest I–III GmbH.
According to the commercial register, Hartmut Klee was already managing director of several MW companies and of Quira Finance GmbH in 2013–2018 and 2020–2024; according to reports on judgments of the Cologne Higher Regional Court, he was also chairman of the supervisory board of the parent company. He refuses any communication; during a visit in Düsseldorf he completely blocked attempts to talk.
Legal situation
According to reports by investors’ law firms, the Bonn Regional Court has ordered Hoeft in several civil judgments to pay damages for intentional immoral harm (section 826 of the German Civil Code) and assessed the business model as a Ponzi scheme; the Cologne Higher Regional Court has upheld several of these judgments. Nevertheless, no payments are being made; according to Business Insider (5 Mar 2025), Hoeft’s flat in Cologne was sold at a forced auction.
According to Handelsblatt (7 Mar 2025), investigators searched MW Group offices in three cities in October 2019, including the Bonn headquarters. On a complaint by Hoeft’s defence lawyers, the Bonn Local Court ruled that seized data had been passed on to the tax investigators unlawfully; on 12 November 2020 the investigators had to delete it. The public prosecutor’s office stated that the search concerned “other allegations” and that the deletion had no direct effect on the fraud proceedings. According to Business Insider (5 Mar 2025), the Bonn public prosecutor’s office is investigating commercial-scale investment fraud and the Wiesbaden public prosecutor’s office a suspected delay in filing for insolvency; neither investigation has been concluded.
According to Handelsblatt (7 Mar 2025), there are five criminal judgments against Hoeft: in 1991 for tax evasion, in 1993 for fraud, in 1996 for failing to file for insolvency, in 2001 for withholding employees’ social security contributions and in 2015 for delay in filing for insolvency; in 1998 he is said to have spent a month in prison in Cologne. Citing investigators, Business Insider also reports convictions for fraud in the 1990s and for unpaid wages in the early 2000s (Business Insider, 3 Mar 2024).
Findings from our research
The system works by systematically stonewalling outsiders. All contacts refer to one another or threaten legal action. Business continues under new company names while old claims remain unpaid.
The authorities are slow to act. Despite clear evidence and final judgments, they cannot or will not stop the system. According to Business Insider (3 Mar 2024), BaFin accused Hoeft of unauthorised investment business as early as 2015 and told him to wind it up. His Belgian companies had already existed since 2005 and 2008; business then continued in Germany under new company names.
Defrauded investors have been waiting for their money for years. Many have lost their retirement savings. The Hoeft system is a prime example of how an “alleged fraudster” – as Business Insider (29 Apr 2024) calls him – can operate in Germany for years: with clever company structures, personal ties and the exploitation of weaknesses in the authorities.
Other victims – and Hoeft – wanted
We have still not met Hoeft in person. Have you also been harmed by Wolfgang Hoeft or the MW Group, or do you know where he is staying in Switzerland? Please contact us. We treat your information in strict confidence.
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Do you have a claim against Wolfgang Hoeft?
We can put you in touch with our collections partner in Switzerland, who will start debt enforcement proceedings (Betreibung) against Wolfgang Hoeft at his place of residence in Fischbach LU – for a fixed fee.