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Port Elizabeth - Fin24 asks again, for the second time in so many weeks, why authorities are so slow to investigate and give answers to allegations that court orders are being forged.
It is too easy to get hold of a letter head of the relevant court, create your own stationary and order a “Clerk of the Court” rubber stamp from the stationary shop down the road.
Since allegations against Atlas Finance and its sister company Syndicated Debt Collectors came to our attention, we have found that forgeries of court orders seem to be a big problem.
Atlas Finance founder and CEO Jack Halfon responded to allegations by Summit Financial Partners that his companies “manufacture” their own court orders with his own allegations: That Summit tried to extort money from him and that the court has looked into the allegations and that he has been vindicated of any wrongdoing.
Summit is a company that helps employers to manage the deduction from employees’ salaries where emolument attachment orders (EAO) have been granted by the court.
Summit has found that the Randburg magistrate court and its counterpart in Krugersdorp issued an unrealistic number of these orders – more commonly known as garnishee orders – in favour of Atlas Finance.
Summit also checks the outstanding amounts and fees that debt collectors demand, and alleges that the Atlas companies charges fees above the maximum set out in the National Credit Act and the Debt Collectors Act.
Their own investigation uncovered the suspicious court orders, of which Fin24 has seen several copies.
Several of the court orders have been found to be fraudulent, as the court case numbers do not exist or refer to other court matters. According to Altas, this is only a case of lost court files.
CEO of Summit Financial Partners Clark Gardner said that is not the case.
“We agree that certain collectors cannot find a few of their EAO’s in court files, but with Atlas we cannot find a single court order from a large number. The case numbers do not seem to match those used at court.”
He also said that he would like to see proof that the Krugersdorp magistrate court cleared Atlas from any wrongdoing. “Can I see this?” asked Gardner.
Summit said that Atlas promised to send balance calculations and court case files for checking since the allegations were presented months and years ago, but they are still waiting.
“Why do they say that they have been vindicated of wrongdoing? Does that mean they have found all of the 400 case files in both Krugersdorp and Randburg that we have doubts over?” asked Gardner.
Summit repeated its offer to the public to audit all Atlas Finance garnishee orders at no cost, whether requested by the affected individual or orders on employer payrolls.
He said that Summit wants “to protect people against unscrupulous practices as it is too expensive for these consumers to fight this in court alone and no other body (including regulators or the ombudsman) seem to be acting”.
The problem with forged court orders is easy to solve: Give every court official with the duties of Clerk of the Court a stamp with a specific serial number, similar to those issued to bank tellers.
Or, tell them to write their personal number and date on every document they stamp, similar to what police officers do when they handle documents.
And the authorities should lock up a few of the forgers for a year or two.
- Fin24
*After chasing money on the JSE for 15 years, Adriaan Kruger is now living a relaxed lifestyle in Wilderness and lectures economics part-time at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
It is too easy to get hold of a letter head of the relevant court, create your own stationary and order a “Clerk of the Court” rubber stamp from the stationary shop down the road.
Since allegations against Atlas Finance and its sister company Syndicated Debt Collectors came to our attention, we have found that forgeries of court orders seem to be a big problem.
Atlas Finance founder and CEO Jack Halfon responded to allegations by Summit Financial Partners that his companies “manufacture” their own court orders with his own allegations: That Summit tried to extort money from him and that the court has looked into the allegations and that he has been vindicated of any wrongdoing.
Summit is a company that helps employers to manage the deduction from employees’ salaries where emolument attachment orders (EAO) have been granted by the court.
Summit has found that the Randburg magistrate court and its counterpart in Krugersdorp issued an unrealistic number of these orders – more commonly known as garnishee orders – in favour of Atlas Finance.
Summit also checks the outstanding amounts and fees that debt collectors demand, and alleges that the Atlas companies charges fees above the maximum set out in the National Credit Act and the Debt Collectors Act.
Their own investigation uncovered the suspicious court orders, of which Fin24 has seen several copies.
Several of the court orders have been found to be fraudulent, as the court case numbers do not exist or refer to other court matters. According to Altas, this is only a case of lost court files.
CEO of Summit Financial Partners Clark Gardner said that is not the case.
“We agree that certain collectors cannot find a few of their EAO’s in court files, but with Atlas we cannot find a single court order from a large number. The case numbers do not seem to match those used at court.”
He also said that he would like to see proof that the Krugersdorp magistrate court cleared Atlas from any wrongdoing. “Can I see this?” asked Gardner.
Summit said that Atlas promised to send balance calculations and court case files for checking since the allegations were presented months and years ago, but they are still waiting.
“Why do they say that they have been vindicated of wrongdoing? Does that mean they have found all of the 400 case files in both Krugersdorp and Randburg that we have doubts over?” asked Gardner.
Summit repeated its offer to the public to audit all Atlas Finance garnishee orders at no cost, whether requested by the affected individual or orders on employer payrolls.
He said that Summit wants “to protect people against unscrupulous practices as it is too expensive for these consumers to fight this in court alone and no other body (including regulators or the ombudsman) seem to be acting”.
The problem with forged court orders is easy to solve: Give every court official with the duties of Clerk of the Court a stamp with a specific serial number, similar to those issued to bank tellers.
Or, tell them to write their personal number and date on every document they stamp, similar to what police officers do when they handle documents.
And the authorities should lock up a few of the forgers for a year or two.
- Fin24
*After chasing money on the JSE for 15 years, Adriaan Kruger is now living a relaxed lifestyle in Wilderness and lectures economics part-time at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
