'Robin Hood' investor linked to killing of Liechtenstein banker

Police in Liechtenstein said yesterday that a self-styled "Robin Hood" suspected of killing a banker in a financial feud is believed to have committed suicide, but that efforts to locate him continued.

Liechtenstein police said officers had found Juergen Hermann's driving licence and his passport, the latter containing a hand-written note in which he confessed to the shooting and bid farewell to the world

His getaway car had been found abandoned in the countryside near the River Rhine in the north of the country.

Hermann, an engineer, financier and technology investor, is believed to have killed banker Juergen Frick - the boss of Liechtenstein's Bank Frick.

In an apparent challenge to the police, the content on Hermann's website yesterday had been replaced with the English words: "Catch me if you can, dead or alive, reward 200,000,000 CHF", which is about HK$1.74 billion.

Hermann, who calls himself the "Robin Hood of Liechtenstein" on his website, has spent seven years sparring with Bank Frick and the tax haven's government over what he alleges is wrongdoing that has cost him huge sums.

He is seeking 200 million Swiss francs from the state and 33 million Swiss francs from Bank Frick over the 2005 collapse of his hi-tech investment company and funds, which had been put on watch by the authorities.

Hermann has also challenged the "financial mafia" who he alleges control the country of some 37,000 people, which is sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria.

In line with Liechtenstein legal custom, police did not identify Frick as the victim. But his name was published in several media reports.

The body was found by an employee yesterday morning in a bank's underground car park in Balzers, a town in southern Liechtenstein.

Hermann, who was spotted on the car park's video surveillance, is believed to have followed Frick into the car park on foot, where he shot him as he got out of his car.