Alleged killer broke – state
A German national accused of killing Jeffreys Bay businessperson Claus Schroeder in 2009 told the Port Elizabeth High Court yesterday that he made money through Titan, a pyramid-style selling scheme.
In what has been a prolonged murder trial, Jen Leunberg testified he recruited mostly foreigners to the scheme.
He said he used the money to make renovations on a house in Rustenburg, Germany. The house, registered in his mother’s name, had a bathroom and kitchen on each floor. Leunberg said one shower unit with a sauna cost him over €2 000 (R32 000).
According to European media reports, the scheme, which involved no product, was ruled illegal by the court of appeal in Europe in 1996. According to a report by The Independent, the court described the scheme as “pernicious” and “evil”, and essentially a lottery.
According to state advocate Marius Stander, Leunberg portrayed himself as a wealthy man but had apparently written a letter to a German bank stating his intention to apply for insolvency before coming to South Africa.
Leunberg, 36, and his common-law wife Kristina Adler, 38, have been charged with two counts of fraud and the murder of Schroeder.
It is alleged Schroeder was murdered by Leunberg after the sale of his Thornhill farm to the pair went sour.
They allegedly presented documents from a German bank showing Adler had the finances to purchase Schroeder’s farm.
When Schroeder realised the pair was scamming him, he was allegedly lured to a valley near the Owvanuk farm in the Hankey area and murdered.
Schroeder disappeared on August 14, 2009, and his body has never been found.
When Adler testified she said she believed he was a rich businessperson.
State advocate Marius Stander detailed a history of Leunberg’s employment earnings in Germany between 2006 and 2008 – highlighting amounts, with him receiving a parental allowance at one stage and also drawing unemployment benefits.
“Multimillionaires don’t draw unemployment. I don’t know but if you have €5.5 million (R64 million) it’s a mockery to draw unemployment,” said Stander.
He said that Leunberg had nothing and came to South Africa to keep his family alive.
The trial continues.
Multimillionaires don’t draw unemployment... if you have €5.5 million it’s a mockery to draw unemployment.
Marius Stander State advocate