City woman loses N$7m in Great Triangle rip-off

THE United States Federal Reserve, a triple-A-rated bank in Botswana, the Metropolitan Police of the United Kingdom and an investment company in Mayfair, London, were allegedly all players in yet another dubious deal by Great Triangle Investments, in which a 70-year-old Windhoek woman lost N$7 million.

The Botswana-registered company is at the heart of a search for N$100 million in public funds that the Offshore Development Company (ODC) gave its principal director Philip Fourie, a South African, to invest. Helene Naudé wants her money back.She has applied to the High Court in Windhoek to prevent a pension of N$3,28 million being paid out to insurance broker Johan Deysel, who convinced her to invest with Great Triangle in 2003.A LUCRATIVE YEAR That proved a lucrative year for Great Triangle – at roughly the same time, Fourie had also been touting his investment opportunities to the ODC.When Deysel last contacted Great Triangle’s Fourie in July, Fourie said the Metropolitan Police in London were investigating the delay in the repayment of the investment.He claimed that the situation was being exacerbated by Deysel’s “interference”.Fourie promised to repay Naudé’s money by August.In an affidavit submitted to the High Court on Friday, Deysel claims Fourie is said to have told him that Naudé’s money would be invested with the United States Federal Reserve and that the money had to be channelled through a “triple-A-rated” bank in Botswana – Barclays Bank PLC.The money was to be returned within a year, including interest of 22 per cent.Again, as with the ODC, no contract exists between Great Triangle Investments and Naudé.An internal forensic investigation by Old Mutual Life Insurance, for whom Deysel worked when he arranged the deal on Naudé’s behalf, estimates that Naudé stands to lose approximately N$9,84 million because of the botched investment.She had cashed in unit trusts of N$2,6 million and a life-insurance policy of N$3,7 million she had with Old Mutual to invest with Great Triangle.At the time, Deysel told her that the value of her investments had declined significantly because of adverse market conditions.FIRST HINTS OF TROUBLE Through her investment with Great Triangle, Naudé was expected to receive quarterly returns on her investment of N$350 000, until all her money was returned to her by the end of 2004.She received only two such payments on time.When the third payment was overdue, Deysel deposited the money from his commission into Fourie’s personal Absa account, to pay Naudé and suppress alarm.The money Naudé has lost, she said in an affidavit before the court, was intended to form part of her will, to be used as study bursaries and development projects.Deysel, as a former employee of Old Mutual Life Insurance Company, was responsible for administering Naudé’s investment portfolio, valued at more than N$15 million, and advising her on her finances when he convinced her to invest with Great Triangle Investments.He pocketed commission of N$700 000 from the transaction.”I considered Mr Fourie to be a credible individual, and believed that his proposed investment scheme was a legitimate investment opportunity that would deliver real returns.”He also gave me the impression that he was a religious person, which led me to believe that I could trust him,” Deysel says in his affidavit.Deysel’s lawyers have indicated that he intends to challenge the interim order that his pension not be paid out to him.He now also faces criminal charges of fraud, corruption and contravention of the Financial Institutions (Investment of Funds) Act.Deysel faced disciplinary charges for conducting business outside the scope of his Old Mutual duties and having received money for it.He was suspended on August 19, but resigned three days before a disciplinary hearing scheduled for September 16.Deysel requested that his pension money of N$3,2 million be transferred to Sanlam.He had been employed by Old Mutual since 1990.Deysel has conceded that he advised Naudé incorrectly to invest with Great Triangle.In a letter to Deysel in January, Fourie wrote that he had spent eight weeks abroad “to put right something that went radically wrong”.He claimed to have transferred US$2,5 million to a London-based institution, European Investment Management Ltd, which banks with Lloyds TSB.This institution, he said, acted as trust officials (escrow agents) for a company in the US by the name of Triple M Investments Corporation of Boston, to act as “programme managers”.In December, Fourie told Deysel that the two institutions had been unable to perform and although he had cancelled the transactions with them, he had not yet retrieved the funds.A letter from European Investment Management Limited confirming the cancellation of the investment in December 2004 has been attached to the court application.Fourie further claimed to have handed the matter to the Metropolitan Police.He told Deysel that he had property in Stellenbosch “conservatively valued” at N$20 million and would attempt to borrow against the property to return Naudé’s money.In an affidavit before the court, Old Mutual Life Assurance Company’s Head of Group Forensic Services, Theo Estie, states that “for all intents and purposes, the amount invested with Great Triangle Investments [on Naudé’s behalf] is lost”.Helene Naudé wants her money back.She has applied to the High Court in Windhoek to prevent a pension of N$3,28 million being paid out to insurance broker Johan Deysel, who convinced her to invest with Great Triangle in 2003.A LUCRATIVE YEAR That proved a lucrative year for Great Triangle – at roughly the same time, Fourie had also been touting his investment opportunities to the ODC.When Deysel last contacted Great Triangle’s Fourie in July, Fourie said the Metropolitan Police in London were investigating the delay in the repayment of the investment.He claimed that the situation was being exacerbated by Deysel’s “interference”.Fourie promised to repay Naudé’s money by August.In an affidavit submitted to the High Court on Friday, Deysel claims Fourie is said to have told him that Naudé’s money would be invested with the United States Federal Reserve and that the money had to be channelled through a “triple-A-rated” bank in Botswana – Barclays Bank PLC.The money was to be returned within a year, including interest of 22 per cent.Again, as with the ODC, no contract exists between Great Triangle Investments and Naudé. An internal forensic investigation by Old Mutual Life Insurance, for whom Deysel worked when he arranged the deal on Naudé’s behalf, estimates that Naudé stands to lose approximately N$9,84 million because of the botched investment.She had cashed in unit trusts of N$2,6 million and a life-insurance policy of N$3,7 million she had with Old Mutual to invest with Great Triangle.At the time, Deysel told her that the value of her investments had declined significantly because of adverse market conditions.FIRST HINTS OF TROUBLE Through her investment with Great Triangle, Naudé was expected to receive quarterly returns on her investment of N$350 000, until all her money was returned to her by the end of 2004.She received only two such payments on time.When the third payment was overdue, Deysel deposited the money from his commission into Fourie’s personal Absa account, to pay Naudé and suppress alarm.The money Naudé has lost, she said in an affidavit before the court, was intended to form part of her will, to be used as study bursaries and development projects.Deysel, as a former employee of Old Mutual Life Insurance Company, was responsible for administering Naudé’s investment portfolio, valued at more than N$15 million, and advising her on her finances when he convinced her to invest with Great Triangle Investments.He pocketed commission of N$700 000 from the transaction.”I considered Mr Fourie to be a credible individual, and believed that his proposed investment scheme was a legitimate investment opportunity that would deliver real returns.”He also gave me the impression that he was a religious person, which led me to believe that I could trust him,” Deysel says in his affidavit.Deysel’s lawyers have indicated that he intends to challenge the interim order that his pension not be paid out to him.He now also faces criminal charges of fraud, corruption and contravention of the Financial Institutions (Investment of Funds) Act.Deysel faced disciplinary charges for conducting business outside the scope of his Old Mutual duties and having received money for it.He was suspended on August 19, but resigned three days before a disciplinary hearing scheduled for September 16.Deysel requested that his pension money of N$3,2 million be transferred to Sanlam.He had been employed by Old Mutual since 1990.Deysel has conceded that he advised Naudé incorrectly to invest with Great Triangle.In a letter to Deysel in January, Fourie wrote that he had spent eight weeks abroad “to put right something that went radically wrong”.He claimed to have transferred US$2,5 million to a London-based institution, European Investment Management Ltd, which banks with Lloyds TSB.This institution, he said, acted as trust officials (escrow agents) for a company in the US by the name of Triple M Investments Corporation of Boston, to act as “programme managers”.In December, Fourie told Deysel that the two institutions had been unable to perform and although he had cancelled the transactions with them, he had not yet retrieved the funds.A letter from European Investment Management Limited confirming the cancellation of the investment in December 2004 has been attached to the court application.Fourie further claimed to have handed the matter to the Metropolitan Police.He told Deysel that he had property in Stellenbosch “conservatively valued” at N$20 million and would attempt to borrow against the property to return Naudé’s money.In an affidavit before the court, Old Mutual Life Assurance Company’s Head of Group Forensic Services, Theo Estie, states that “for all intents and purposes, the amount invested with Great Triangle Investments [on Naudé’s behalf] is lost”.