Richard Watzke

Why they're listed

Founder and public face of Xixoio, a Czech 'tokenization' venture marketed aggressively through ads, PR, conference stages and social media as the future of corporate finance. In December 2023 police (the NCOZ organized-crime unit) charged two people and the company itself with fraud over the XIX token sale — reporting names founder Richard Watzke and board chairman Henry Ertner as the men detained in the raid. Investigators count 2,931 defrauded clients and damages of at least 353 million CZK, alleging investors were fed false claims about the project's progress while money flowed into real estate and expensive operations. Charges are accusations, not a conviction — but Reportéři ČT and financial media documented for years how XIX was sold to small Czech savers on promises the company could not verify.