A former computer hacker who was sentenced to four years in prison for a series of crimes including changing the credit rating of former German chancellor Helmut Kohl to zero emerged as a white knight for the troubled e-tailer, Letsbuyit.com.
Kim Schmitz, a 27-year-old German who in the late 1990s confessed to hacking into the computers of companies such as US phone group AT&T, has agreed to provide the bulk of a 4m euro (£2.5m) emergency fundraising through his investment vehicle Kimvestor to secure Letsbuyit's short-term future.
Last night he told The Guardian that he was prepared to pump further money into the firm, which is in administration with debts estimated well in excess of 40m euros.
"Letsbuyit is a great company and I would not invest in something I was not absolutely sure of because I don't gamble my money," he said.
"I hope to put in much more soon. The accounts as they are don't matter. Christmas trading figures out soon will be amazing and show how healthy this company could be. With new management Letsbuyit can be great again."
Mr Schmitz said he agreed to provide the funds after being approached by Letsbuyit founder and friend John Palmer. Mr Schmitz said he was hopeful that German media company Pro Siben, which is a large shareholder in Letsbuyit, will also inject further cash.
It is thought that the company needs 40m-80m euros to reach profitability.
Mr Schmitz was given his prison sentence in 1996 after turning himself in to the authorities but was required to serve only three months' probation. "That is all a long time ago now. I am a free man with a white coat," he said.
His wealth has largely come from the sale of an 80% stake in the internet security business Dataprotect he set up after going "legit" in the late 1990s to German credit agency Tuf.
Mr Palmer, last night de scribed Kimvestor as "a large venture capital and start-up company based in Munich with a large fund". He claimed that a "huge amount" of investors are now showing interest in Letsbuyit - which is thought to need a further 30m euros within a few weeks.
Heidi Fitzpatrick, an analyst at Lehman Brothers, questioned the company's ability to generate revenue growth and contain its burn rate - estimated by the trustees to be at 10m euros a month.
"They still need a considerable sum to take the company to break even," she said. "This is going give them a bit of extra time but that is all. They are not off the hook yet."
The company, which has been in crisis since it applied to the Dutch courts for protection against its creditors at the end of last month, has been the subject of a damning report into management practices by the trustees, describing it as "deplorable".
It accused senior executives of appearing to have "no notion" of the "financial obligations of the company" and said it would take three or four experienced accountants a month to make sense of the financial records.
Shares in Letsbuyit ended up 36.84% yesterday at 26 cents. This is still 94% below its 6.45 euro high on its first day of trading in July.
