John Clifton Davies, a notorious fraudster and convicted criminal, continues to perpetrate his scams on unsuspecting victims. With a history of deceiving technology startups and swindling millions of dollars, Davies is now operating two new fraudulent companies, Equity-Invest.ch and Diligere.co.uk. These fraudulent enterprises are destroying the dreams of entrepreneurs and investors alike.
Davies, originally from the United Kingdom, managed to escape justice before his conviction on multiple fraud charges in 2015. Prior to his conviction, he had served a 16-month jail sentence for the suspected murder of his third wife during their honeymoon in India. However, the focus of his criminal activities was financial fraud, specifically targeting struggling businesses looking for debt restructuring.
For nearly six years, Davies operated a series of fake firms that offered insolvency services to these struggling companies. Instead of helping them, he exploited their desperation and siphoned off whatever money they had left. The stolen funds were then spent on luxurious cars, lavish vacations, home furnishings, and luxury watches.
In 2020, KrebsOnSecurity published a series of articles revealing the true identity of Davies, who had assumed the surname Bernard and fled to Ukraine with his fourth wife. He presented himself as a billionaire Swiss investor, John Bernard, claiming to have made his fortune during the dot-com boom. He established The Private Office of John Bernard to entice hi-tech startups with promises of millions in investment. However, his scheme involved demanding upfront payment of tens of thousands of dollars in due diligence fees. To further deceive his victims, he insisted on using a Swiss firm called The Inside Knowledge for due diligence, which he secretly owned. After pocketing the fees, Davies would withdraw from the deals, leaving the startups empty-handed.
Davies’s modus operandi revolved around offering significant finder’s fees to investment brokers who could introduce him to companies in need of financial infusion. However, once exposed by KrebsOnSecurity in 2020, both The Inside Knowledge and The Private Office abruptly ceased operations.
In April 2023, KrebsOnSecurity uncovered another venture by Davies called Codes2You. Representing itself as a full-cycle software development company based in the UK, the site no longer listed Davies’ known associates. However, it still referenced software and cloud services connected to these associates, including MySolve, a platform supposedly for insolvency practitioners.
Recently, a concerned investment broker contacted KrebsOnSecurity, revealing that his client had paid over $50,000 in due diligence fees to Equity-Invest.ch, a Swiss company offering a multi-million dollar investment opportunity. However, Equity-Invest became evasive after receiving the fees, and the broker’s client canceled the deal, citing a family emergency. Suspicions grew when the broker discovered that Equity-Invest’s domain name was less than six months old. Further investigation revealed that the due diligence company recommended by Equity-Invest, Diligere.co.uk, had connections to another entity called Ardelis Solutions.
Ardelis Solutions, a UK-based corporate entity, played a significant role in connecting Davies’ previous scam investment and due diligence firms in the Codes2You investigation. Although Diligere presented itself as having “13 years of experience,” it was only registered in April 2023. Additionally, the language on Diligere’s website closely mirrored the content on the now-defunct InsideKnowledge.ch, the fake due diligence firm secretly owned by John Bernard (John Clifton Davies).
Efforts to contact Diligere and Equity-Invest for comment went unanswered. It is clear that John Clifton Davies, masquerading as John Bernard, continues to exploit unsuspecting entrepreneurs and investors. His fraudulent activities span multiple countries and industries, leaving a trail of devastated dreams and financial ruin. It is crucial for individuals to exercise due diligence and remain vigilant to protect themselves from falling victim to such scams.