Georg Stumpf is a man who has made billions while avoiding the limelight. The son of a prominent Austrian contractor with close ties to the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), Stumpf built his empire from real estate — including Vienna’s iconic Millennium Tower — and later expanded into industrial holdings. But what truly puts him on FinTelegram’s radar are his deep connections to Russian oligarchs.
This report investigates the extensive Austrian connections to two of the largest financial fraud cases in U.S. history: the Manhattan Investment Fund (MIF) fraud and the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. Austrian financiers Ronny Pecik and Robert Schimanko, through their M&A Privatbank, played key roles in the European feeder network that facilitated these financial crimes.
It's not easy to be a Russian oligarch at this time. According to a New York Times report, some Russian oligarchs have used Concord Management LLC, a financial advisory company in Tarrytown, New York, to secretly invest money in large US hedge funds and private equity firms. Allegedly, the bulk of the funds belonged to Roman Abramovich, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Concord and its founder, Michael Matlin, said it oversaw between $4 billion and $8 billion.