Florian Homm - the Target

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Who is Homm?

Homm is a larger-than-life version of the hedge fund archetype and not just because he is 6ft 6in (over 2 metres). A specialist in the world of small companies, an expert in German business and a serial entrepreneur. He started his first investment company at 18, has worked at Merrill Lynch, Fidelity and Julius Baer, and has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics, cum laude. His skill was in picking smaller companies, often taking big stakes in names such as Borussia Dortmund, the German football club. 

He raked in millions with short sales and gilding falling market prices. He invented losses, spread rumors and negative breakdowns. The stock market regulator BaFin intervened, reprimanded and imposed a fine. Homm complained "Incompetent Regulators," and smiled because of the penalty. The SEC has it in for Homm since 2005. When Homm’s Absolute Capital Management (ACM on Bloomberg) was taken private in April 2009, the assets had decreased from $ 3 billion to $ 2.3 million. This creates enemies. In the same year Homm disappeared.

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Where is Homm?

The world is split into two shades. Countries in which Florian Homm has been sighted since his disappearance are dark. Countries which are in the extradition treaty are light. A legend shows the number of clues per country. Striking dark is South America: Panama, Venezuela and Brazil. 

This map is pinned to a wall in my office. I am a private investigator. Some might say I am a bounty hunter. Homm's "enemies" are my customers. They feel betrayed and want revenge. And of course they want their money back. It is my goal is to recover my client’s money before the police can lock Homm up in jail for at least ten years. I think that it is only a matter of time untill target Homm is caught. The only question is who catches him first, me or the police. 

Homm's case is not an exception. Bounty hunters like me are in great demand. We act in a legal twilight zone and try to be discreet. Five years ago I had to stop investigating for some time because there was a picture of me in a newspaper. I changed my face since then. Now I am back on track of financial delinquents like Homm. These people, or targets as I like to call them, can not be handled like an average criminal. These people are greatly intelligent and streetwise. What makes it even harder to catch them is their money. They simply buy their way out of precarious situations.