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Cape Town - The man fingered in a pyramid scheme has denied allegations that he collected about R100m from unsuspecting members of the public.
The Hawks put an end to the scheme operating out of Parow, Cape Town, last week after a crackdown in conjunction with the Financial Intelligence Centre and the Financial Services Board.
In a statement, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the Western Cape High Court had granted the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) a preservation order amounting to R138m against the scheme, Platinum Forex, and its sole member, Colin Davids.
READ: Hawks put end to R100m pyramid scheme
On Saturday, Fin24 received correspondence where Davids refuted the allegations.
“I would like to vehemently deny all allegations that have been leveled (sic) against me and my company Platinum Forex Group,” he said. “I further want to reiterate that all allegations are baseless and unsubstantiated.”
NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said last week that the freezing order would enable the curator bonis appointed by the court to keep the assets safe, while the AFU prepares an application to forfeit the property.
Davids to oppose relief order
However, Davids said he would oppose any relief “that has and prospectively will be sorted by the NDPP, including the preservation order granted on Monday, 20 July 2015”.
“I am co-operating with the authorities and will continue to co-operate with them in light of the fact that I have nothing to hide,” he said. “Upon proper consideration of all of the information that has been made available to the authorities, it will become patently clear that my business is in fact a legitimate enterprise, and not a Pyramid scheme as has been alleged.”
The NPA said the scheme collected money under the guise that it was a "lawful investor that invests in foreign exchange investments (forex)". It said investigations revealed the "unlawful business" took place during August 2013.
Ntabazalila said that the “AFU alleges that the joint investigations with its partners revealed that, instead of investing the monies it collected, it used some of the funds received from the public for its own benefit”.
"Platinum Forex also made false promises... that their so-called investments would yield interest returns of between 48% and 84%,” said Ntabazalila.
However, he said, investigations showed that Platinum Forex also used some of the funds received from investors to pay other members.
Davids said it was “unfortunate that the NDPP has seen fit to release statements to the media, which imply that I am guilty of criminal conduct, especially in light of the fact that I am providing my full co-operation”.
He added that his above statement was “substantiated by our expert legal team after reviewing all the companies (sic) operational documentation and auditors statements”.
"Some say where there is smoke there is fire, but beware of malicious people who starts a fire to try and burn your house down," he concluded.
