Hendrik Holt has been the subject of a worldwide manhunt since the end of August. A European Arrest Warrant has also been issued for the businessman, who was convicted of organized fraud, facilitating his arrest and surrender within the EU. Holt failed to return to his Berlin prison after authorized leave. Yet what happened before his escape may be almost more remarkable: while already serving his sentence, Holt helped broker the sale of Rostock-Laage Airport, according to its current operator. Just a few months later, Holt Family Office GmbH was established in Berlin with share capital of €1 million. There is no evidence that the two developments are economically connected. But in terms of timing, the people involved and individual business links, they are strikingly close.
An airport deal in which Holt was barely visible at first
When the Zeitfracht Group sought to sell the civilian part of Rostock-Laage Airport in the summer of 2025, Hendrik Holt’s name was initially barely mentioned in public.
In early July, Zeitfracht confirmed that it had found a strategic investor. Shortly afterwards, Berlin-based investment company Crisp Partners emerged as the buyer. It announced plans to continue operating the regional airport in the long term, rebuild passenger traffic and develop large photovoltaic installations and battery storage systems on previously underused land.
The energy project was apparently no coincidental addition.
Karsten Lauth, project manager at Crisp Partners and husband of airport managing director Ira Lauth, told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung after Holt’s escape that Holt had approached the company with the idea of acquiring the airport. According to Lauth, Holt had also come up with the concept of using the airport’s extensive land for solar power and energy storage. Holt, however, was not an official business partner in the transaction. Lauth explicitly stated that Holt held no stake in either Crisp Partners or the airport.
That is the confirmed version. Other reporting suggests his role may have gone further.
Internal documents point to a larger role
Business Insider and Welt reported in August, citing confidential documents and people familiar with the transaction, that Holt may have played a substantially larger role behind the investment.
According to those reports, a non-public company document refers to a business partnership between Crisp Energy, a brand of Crisp Partners, and a “Holt Holding S.A.” The latter was reportedly intended to contribute experience in developing large-scale renewable energy projects.
Welt also reported that Holt took part in discussions surrounding the sale and later celebrated the completion of the deal with others involved in Berlin.
Crisp Partners describes the relationship more narrowly. According to the company, Holt acted as an intermediary, identified potential opportunities and assisted with initial calculations for the planned energy infrastructure. Crisp says it did not receive any money from Holt to finance the acquisition.
The distinction matters. There is a significant difference between Holt brokered the deal and Holt had an economic interest in the deal — and the publicly available information does not currently allow that line to be crossed with certainty.
One fact, however, is established: Holt was already in an open prison regime at the time. Since late October 2024, he had been serving his sentence under less restrictive conditions in Berlin.
The purchase price has since become a source of dispute
The takeover has not proceeded smoothly from a financial perspective either.
According to Welt, the purchase agreement was signed on July 4, 2025, with a reported purchase price of €3.1 million. The first instalment of €240,000 was allegedly paid late, but ultimately transferred. Further agreed payments, according to the report, were not made.
The Ostsee-Zeitung recently reported that a substantial portion of the purchase price remains outstanding. According to the newspaper, the seller has initiated enforcement proceedings and filed a criminal complaint on suspicion of fraud. The Osnabrück public prosecutor’s office confirmed that such a complaint had been received. That does not mean that any criminal liability has been established.
Crisp Partners rejects the allegations. Karsten Lauth said payments were being withheld because, in his view, certain contractual conditions had not been met and because of problems surrounding the sale. He says he expects the dispute to be resolved through civil proceedings.
The airport itself continues to operate. Regular holiday flights returned in February 2026.
A few months later, Holt Family Office appears
While the dispute over the airport was developing, another company with a conspicuous name was being created in Berlin.
The articles of association for Holt Family Office GmbH are dated April 28, 2026. Its corporate purpose was amended again on June 9, and the company was entered into the Commercial Register on June 12. Jana Michaela Holt is registered as managing director. The company has share capital of €1 million.
Its stated corporate purpose is broad but clearly commercial: the company is to manage and invest the shareholders’ own assets and trade luxury goods and works of art on its own account.
Share capital of €1 million stands out. Under German law, a standard GmbH requires only €25,000 in share capital.
But an important distinction is necessary here. The Commercial Register entry does not prove that €1 million is sitting as freely available cash in a company bank account, nor does it reveal where the capital came from. The register extract also does not establish that Hendrik Holt has a financial stake in the company.
That question is particularly sensitive because Holt himself remains subject to insolvency proceedings.
€40 million in claims — but who owns which assets?
Holt’s insolvency administrator, Malte Köster, puts the claims filed against Holt at around €40 million. According to him, they largely originate from investors who suffered losses.
The insolvency administrator is aware of Holt Family Office. If any money belonging to Hendrik Holt had flowed into the company, however, Köster says he had not been informed of it.
Anything beyond that would currently be speculation.
The family office carries Holt’s name. His wife manages the company. It was established while he was in open custody. And on paper, it has unusually high share capital compared with an ordinary GmbH.
Whether Hendrik Holt himself has an economic interest in the company or contributed capital has not been established.
Then the same address appears
There is another overlap. Holt Family Office is registered at Kemperplatz 1 in Berlin. Crisp Partners is also listed at that address.
That means the buyer of the airport and the family office connected to Holt share the same business address.
But again, a shared address does not prove a shared corporate structure.
Through her lawyer, Ira Lauth stated that she had not been aware that Holt Family Office was also registered there. A serviced-office provider operates at Kemperplatz and provides business addresses to numerous companies. According to her account, Holt himself was never present in Crisp Partners’ offices.
The address therefore represents a notable overlap — but not evidence of a corporate connection.
A second business world emerged while Holt was still in prison
The timeline nevertheless remains unusual.
- In October 2024, Holt enters open custody.
- In the summer of 2025, according to Crisp Partners, he brokers the airport deal and provides the idea for its energy business.
- In April 2026, the articles of association for Holt Family Office are signed.
- In June, the company is registered with share capital of €1 million.
- On August 25, Holt fails to return from authorized leave. He has been wanted ever since.
None of these points needs to be woven into a grand conspiracy for the story to be remarkable.
A businessman convicted of multimillion-euro fraud appears to regain access to business networks while still serving his sentence. According to those involved, he brokers a multimillion-euro project centred on a regional airport. Shortly afterwards, an asset-management company bearing his family name and endowed with unusually high share capital is established within his immediate family circle. At the same time, his personal insolvency proceedings continue, with claims totalling around €40 million.
How far these developments are economically connected remains unclear.
What is clear is that Hendrik Holt had by no means disappeared from the business world while serving his sentence.
That makes the story surrounding the airport and the family office considerably more interesting than the current question of where the fugitive may have posted his latest photograph from.
SK
