FBI adds German businessman to its most-wanted fraud list

The FBI has added German businessman Bernhard Fritsch to its list of most-wanted fraud suspects, offering $150,000 for information that leads to his arrest. Fritsch, 65, was convicted in the United States of investment fraud and later escaped house arrest.

According to Business Insider, Fritsch raised between $20 million and $30 million from investors between 2014 and 2017 for StarClub, a company developing the StarSite app to monetize the reach of celebrities and influencers. He used entertainment-industry connections while seeking investors, including photographs with Michael Jackson, Boris Becker and Wesley Snipes. Other well-known actors and musicians also took part in promoting the project.

Federal prosecutors accused Fritsch in 2017 of falsely presenting the company’s business plans. They said he claimed StarClub would sign contracts with major media companies such as Disney and that potential buyers were interested in the business. U.S. authorities said at least $7.3 million of investors’ money ended up in his personal accounts and was used to finance luxury cars, a yacht and a mortgage on a Malibu villa.

A jury found him guilty last April on one of two wire-fraud counts after a nine-day trial. He faced up to 20 years in prison. In June 2025, the FBI said, Fritsch cut off the electronic ankle monitor he had been ordered to wear and fled to Mexico. Mexican authorities arrested him in September, allegedly using forged documents, but released him on condition that he report to police every 14 days.

Instead, he travelled to Mexico City and flew to Munich on a Lufthansa flight in early October. U.S. authorities believe he has been in Bavaria since then. A Los Angeles court later sentenced him in absentia to 15 years in prison, a $35,000 fine and almost $26.8 million in restitution. German law generally bars the extradition of German citizens to other countries, while Fritsch has continued to maintain an active Instagram profile and has posted photographs from Bavaria.