‘Ponzi Pastor’ finally on trial
|Published
FRAUD CASE: Pastor Colin Davids in Bellville court. File photo
A popular Cape Flats pastor accused of running a multi-million rand Ponzi Scheme has finally gone on trial at the Bellville Commercial Crimes Court, years after he was busted.
Pastor Colin Davids of Parow appeared alongside his co-accused Derek Bredenkamp on Friday.
Davids, the director of Platinum Forex Group, is accused of running a multi-million rand pyramid scheme where investors were promised impossibly high returns and were repaid with investments from newcomers.
In July 2015, the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) seized assets worth R138m from Platinum Forex and he was arrested and subsequently released on R100 000 bail.
Over three bank accounts in Davids’ name were frozen by the state containing more than R52m, while another business account in the company’s name had R35m in it.
Three BMWs, two Jaguars, a Land Rover and Volvo owned by Davids were also placed under curatorship.
In June 2017 his larney house in Plattekloof went under the hammer and was auctioned off for R4.6 million.
The five-bedroom home in Melkhout Street was sold within 10 minutes.
Earlier that month his six-bedroom Hermanus holiday house was also auctioned for R3.8m.
The houses were sold after Davids, of the New Directions Church in Parow, lost his first round in court in May when a Western Cape High court judge ordered that R100m in cash be paid back to his “investors”.
In 2018 the Hawks nabbed Bredenkamp, who worked as the marketing manager for the group for colluding with Davids.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, says the duo are charged with contravening the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, the Banks Act, 100 counts of fraud alternatively theft of R17. 6m, and a count of money laundering.
“The case has been postponed to 29 November for further trial,” he says.