DHe convicted millionaire fraudster Jürgen Harksen, who also took money from prominent investors in the 80s and 90s, is dead. He died on Tuesday at the age of 63 at his long-time home of Palma de Mallorca, his lawyer Gerhard Strate told the German Press Agency on Wednesday and thereby confirmed corresponding reports from the “Hamburger Abendblatt” and “Bild”.
Accordingly, Harksen had drunk so much in recent years that he developed severe cirrhosis of the liver. Last night he fell and was taken to hospital, reports “Bild”. The doctors gave him morphine for his pain.
In the ARD two-part series “Gier,” which was broadcast in 2010, director Dieter Wedel was inspired by Harksen’s life story, with Ulrich Tukur in the lead role.
Harksen, who was born in Flensburg, had skillfully persuaded investors to make investments, but in the opinion of the judiciary there was no real business idea behind them, but rather a kind of pyramid scheme. He was considered a dazzling figure with a penchant for luxury, which even big names from show business as well as doctors and lawyers fell for.
In 2003, Harksen was sentenced to several years in prison in Hamburg for fraud. He had previously fled to South Africa and thus escaped the reach of the German justice system for years.
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