Three men who allegedly started a pyramid investment scheme, and kept investments totalling nearly R1m for themselves, appeared in the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crime Court yesterday, notes a report on the IoL site.
Quintan James Pick (47), Andre Christoffel Magerman (45) and Jacobus Swartz (50) were not asked to plead when they appeared before Magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg. They are charged with multiple counts of fraud, nine contraventions of the Banks Act, and nine of the Financial, Advisory and Intermediary Services Act. Their appearance was their 18th since they first appeared in the court in September 2011. Representations made by defence attorney Keith Gess to the Western Cape Directorate for Public Prosecutions for the withdrawal of the charges, were refused. At yesterday's proceedings he said he would now approach the NPA in Pretoria. The men were warned to appear in court again on 17 October to hear the NPA's decision. Full report on the IoL site