Economy

Icelandic brothers suspected of raising 350,000 USD in fraudulent Kickstarter campaigns

By Staff

Innovation or fraud? The two brothers with a prototype of the turbine. Kickstarter has closed down the crowdfunding campaign for its production, amid numerous complaints and suspicion of fraud. Photo/Janulus.

Two Icelandic brothers who have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars through Kickstarter campaigns are under investigation for fraud, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service RÚV reports. The two brothers have raised money for the development and manufacturing of three products, a small solar panel attached to backpacks, a multi-use data cable and a portable windmill. While the brothers vehemently deny any wrongdoing, Kickstarter has suspended all the campaigns. According to RÚV Kickstarter only closes down campaigns in extreme cases where there is suspicion of fraud.

350,000 USD raised in crowdfunding campaigns which have been closed down

Recently the two brothers gained considerable attention for what they claimed was an innovative new approach to wind-power generation, using small portable wind turbines. Local as well as international media had covered the innovation, and according to the local news site visir.is CBS News was going to send a news crew to Iceland to interview the brothers and cover the production of the transportable turbines. The brothers claimed they were about to start production.

Read more: Icelandic brothers use crowdfunding to fund production of an innovative transportable wind turbine

Numerous complaints, suspected of fraud

The production of the turbines, called Trinity, was funded through the crowdfunding website Kickstarter. According to RÚV the brothers had raised at least 225,000 USD for the production of the turbines in two different campaigns. Numerous turbines had already been sold through the campaign.

Previously the brothers had funded the manufacturing of a multi-use data cable, and small solar panels. The brothers had raised nearly 120,000 USD for these projects through Kickstarter. According to RÚV the campaigns had received numerous complaints from customers and supporters of the campaign, who felt they had been misled or the products had not been as promised.

The brothers deny all wrongdoing, and deny any knowledge of an investigation into their campaigns.