Cape Town - A preliminary investigation by the appointed curator of the Beyers Realty group has shown that there are currently no funds in the agency's trust account held at Standard Bank to pay affected trust creditors.
The curator Thomas Makupo said in a statement issued on Wednesday that deposits for pending transfers of properties were all made in this Standard Bank trust account and these deposits appear to have all been withdrawn.
"Creditors who deposited monies into these Standard Bank accounts will most likely be negatively affected. I am still continuing with my investigation to determine the full extent of the shortfall and the destination of the withdrawn funds with the intention of recovering the funds where possible," said Makupo.
"This may well prove to be a time-consuming process. I am cognisant of the inconvenience that may be caused to the affected trust creditors and I am, and will continue, doing everything possible to finalise the investigation timeously."
Makupo was appointed as curator on September 30 by the Western Cape High Court with the purpose of, among other things, administering and taking control of the trust accounts of the company. He is also investigating other trust accounts that were initially not disclosed.
Based on the findings of his preliminary investigation, there is no shortfall on amounts deposited into Beyers Realty Group’s trust account held with Absa. This ABSA trust bank account currently has about R2m in trust monies, comprising mainly of tenants' rental deposits.
Affected tenants and landlords whose money was deposited directly into the Absa account should, therefore, not proceed and lodge claims with the Estate Agents Fidelity Fund, said Makupo. He will be sending out the forms that should be completed by the tenants and/or landlords to enable him to make the necessary payments to the tenants and landlords whose monies are still held in the Absa trust account.
Beyers Realty was also placed under provisional liquidation on October 4 2016. The return date for liquidation proceedings is November 8 2016. The liquidators will have the power to deal with creditors’ claims against the company.
"Creditors who deposited their money into the Standard Bank trust account are required to seek independent legal advice in relation to their contractual rights, obligations and remedies in order to make an informed decision," said Makupo.
Read Fin24's top stories trending on Twitter: Fin24’s top stories