City pensioner corners ODC ‘con man’ Fourie

THE key man in fleecing the Offshore Development Company (ODC) of N$100 million – Philip Fourie of Great Triangle Investments – was yesterday declared bankrupt by the Cape Town High Court.

Fourie’s sequestration is a result of efforts by Windhoek pensioner Helene Naudé to retrieve N$7 million she invested with Great Triangle Investments on the advice of a former financial advisor of Old Mutual. Fourie’s estate was placed under provisional sequestration in November last year.Other than Naudé, only one other party has indicated that Fourie is indebted to it – a horse breeder from Tarkastad in the Eastern Cape.The Namibian has learned that Fourie is an avid horse breeder and for the last three years has paid a stud farm to run nine Arabian horses for him.However, he failed to pay N$150 000 for an imported Welsh Cob stallion he ordered late last year, and left the breeders to foot the bill.To date, the ODC has laid no claim to Fourie’s estate.LYING LOW? Cape Town lawyer Jacques Swart, who appeared for Naudé yesterday, said Fourie was not represented in court.Fourie (74) did not oppose the sequestration of his personal estate when the matter returned to the roll, despite filing papers with the court last year saying he was not insolvent and that he could not be held liable for claims against him because the money was owed by Great Triangle Investments.His estate has now been placed under the curatorship of liquidators Cape Trustees who will decide on the value and disposal of Fourie’s assets.Fourie currently lives in George, South Africa.When pensioner Naudé first approached the Cape High Court in August to sequestrate Fourie’s estate, he acknowledged being the principal shareholder of Great Triangle Investments registered in Botswana, as well as Heartprops, another Botswana-registered company.Despite millions of dollars from Namibia alone having ostensibly passed through the account of Great Triangle Investments, an affidavit submitted to the court listed its asset value as only N$4,5 million in investments in Europe and the USA.Through Heartprops, Fourie is a shareholder in La Gratitude Holdings which has as its sole asset a property in Stellenbosch – according to Fourie’s account valued at N$17 million.Fourie’s “business associate” – Tertius Theart, who was also involved in negotiations with the ODC to invest its money with Great Triangle Investments and his own company Comserve Investments – is the other shareholder of La Gratitude Holdings.Fourie is also a principal shareholder in another company registered in the British Virgin Islands – Glowfire Investments, with assets of only US$3 000.SWISS INCOME In an affidavit presented to the court, Fourie said that he received a monthly benefit from a retirement annuity in Switzerland of between N$25 000 and N$30 000.In court papers he made no mention of the horses he owns or of the property where he lives in George.Naudé invested N$7 million with Fourie in 2003, and was promised a return of 20 per cent in interest annually.Since investing the money, Naudé has received three payments of N$350 000.Fourie alleged that Naudé’s money was invested as part of a greater sum of N$17 million with an European investment manager, which in turn would invest the money with a company in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.However, investigations by The Namibian revealed that the American company, Triple M Investment Corporation, is in fact a water technology company with whom Fourie had been in discussions on the possibility of becoming involved in the building of a water desalination plant in the Middle East.The company told The Namibian that its discussions with Fourie had never been more than that, and that it had not received a single cent from Fourie.In an affidavit submitted to the Windhoek High Court by Johan Deysel, the man who convinced Naudé to invest with Great Triangle Investments, the details related to her investment differ somewhat from Fourie’s account.Deysel claimed that Fourie told him Naudé’s money would be invested with the United States Federal Reserve.According to Deysel, Fourie said the investment would mature within a year.When the money was not returned on time, Fourie wrote to Deysel claiming that European Investment Management and Triple M Investments Corporation had not performed and that although he cancelled the transactions, the money had not been returned to him.Last year Deysel’s former employer, Old Mutual, approached the Windhoek High Court in an attempt to withhold Deysel’s pension of more than N$3 million upon his resignation, to compensate Naudé for her losses.But the application was rejected.Naudé will now have to pin her hopes on the sequestration of Fourie’s estate, which could take several months, to get her money back.Fourie’s estate was placed under provisional sequestration in November last year.Other than Naudé, only one other party has indicated that Fourie is indebted to it – a horse breeder from Tarkastad in the Eastern Cape.The Namibian has learned that Fourie is an avid horse breeder and for the last three years has paid a stud farm to run nine Arabian horses for him.However, he failed to pay N$150 000 for an imported Welsh Cob stallion he ordered late last year, and left the breeders to foot the bill.To date, the ODC has laid no claim to Fourie’s estate.LYING LOW? Cape Town lawyer Jacques Swart, who appeared for Naudé yesterday, said Fourie was not represented in court.Fourie (74) did not oppose the sequestration of his personal estate when the matter returned to the roll, despite filing papers with the court last year saying he was not insolvent and that he could not be held liable for claims against him because the money was owed by Great Triangle Investments.His estate has now been placed under the curatorship of liquidators Cape Trustees who will decide on the value and disposal of Fourie’s assets.Fourie currently lives in George, South Africa.When pensioner Naudé first approached the Cape High Court in August to sequestrate Fourie’s estate, he acknowledged being the principal shareholder of Great Triangle Investments registered in Botswana, as well as Heartprops, another Botswana-registered company.Despite millions of dollars from Namibia alone having ostensibly passed through the account of Great Triangle Investments, an affidavit submitted to the court listed its asset value as only N$4,5 million in investments in Europe and the USA.Through Heartprops, Fourie is a shareholder in La Gratitude Holdings which has as its sole asset a property in Stellenbosch – according to Fourie’s account valued at N$17 million.Fourie’s “business associate” – Tertius Theart, who was also involved in negotiations with the ODC to invest its money with Great Triangle Investments and his own company Comserve Investments – is the other shareholder of La Gratitude Holdings.Fourie is also a principal shareholder in another company registered in the British Virgin Islands – Glowfire Investments, with assets of only US$3 000.SWISS INCOME In an affidavit presented to the court, Fourie said that he received a monthly benefit from a retirement annuity in Switzerland of between N$25 000 and N$30 000.In court papers he made no mention of the horses he owns or of the property where he lives in George.Naudé invested N$7 million with Fourie in 2003, and was promised a return of 20 per cent in interest annually.Since investing the money, Naudé has received three payments of N$350 000.Fourie alleged that Naudé’s money was invested as part of a greater sum of N$17 million with an European investment manager, which in turn would invest the money with a company in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.However, investigations by The Namibian revealed that the American company, Triple M Investment Corporation, is in fact a water technology company with whom Fourie had been in discussions on the possibility of becoming involved in the building of a water desalination plant in the Middle East.The company told The Namibian that its discussions with Fouri
e had never been more than that, and that it had not received a single cent from Fourie.In an affidavit submitted to the Windhoek High Court by Johan Deysel, the man who convinced Naudé to invest with Great Triangle Investments, the details related to her investment differ somewhat from Fourie’s account.Deysel claimed that Fourie told him Naudé’s money would be invested with the United States Federal Reserve.According to Deysel, Fourie said the investment would mature within a year.When the money was not returned on time, Fourie wrote to Deysel claiming that European Investment Management and Triple M Investments Corporation had not performed and that although he cancelled the transactions, the money had not been returned to him.Last year Deysel’s former employer, Old Mutual, approached the Windhoek High Court in an attempt to withhold Deysel’s pension of more than N$3 million upon his resignation, to compensate Naudé for her losses.But the application was rejected.Naudé will now have to pin her hopes on the sequestration of Fourie’s estate, which could take several months, to get her money back.