Diamond mogul hits out at raid on his firm
Liebenberg says he is being targeted unfairly by his business’ liquidators
DIAMOND mogul and independent candidate in the upcoming general elections, Louis Liebenberg, has slammed the “unfair and unethical raids” on his wife’s Cape Town home and his business headquarters in Kempton Park.
On Wednesday, the sheriff of the court in Cape Town conducted a raid at a property, while a separate raid was also carried out at offices linked to Liebenberg in Kempton Park yesterday, following an order by FDG Liquidators, the liquidators of Liebenberg’s company
Tariomix, better known as Forever Diamonds and Gold.
According to reports, the liquidators were in search of movable and immovable assets funded by Tariomix investors.
Speaking from his Kempton Park
offices yesterday after prising the gates of the premises open, Liebenberg said he was being targeted by the liquidators unfairly as these properties were not his and had nothing to do with the company under liquidation, Tariomix.
“The Cape Town home is not mine but belongs to my wife and her children, while the offices here house various companies and not just Tariomix. We know that the liquidation was brought in February 2023.
“The liquidators were busy talking on WhatsApp groups by October 2022, which was illegal.
“We tried to address this whole situation with the courts and they then gave us a date for April.
“On that April, this is shocking news because I received the call from the Protea Hotel in that some people involved wanted R20 million and they will waive
the whole liquidation.
“We have got a situation here at the moment where this whole thing has been manipulated. Eventually, they managed to get the liquidation of one company. I have been operating here for 14 years and they are taking furniture belonging to another company, and we went to court because the dates were not right and they postponed the case,” he said.
Last week, the Mahikeng High Court in the North West ruled that a provisional liquidation order issued in February last year be made final after the company was placed into provisional liquidation in February 2023 following an urgent application brought by Ruan Botes and Jeandré Viljoen, two investors who accused Liebenberg of failing to give them their payouts.
In his judgment last week, Acting
Judge Mark Morgan, who also granted intervention applications by 11 more intervening applicants, said there were no grounds to halt the provisional liquidation in spite of the withdrawal by the two original applicants (Botes and Viljoen).
“Both counsel for Tariomix and Sars (SA Revenue Service) could not point me to any authority that would contradict this position and conclusion, and therefore, considering the fundamental tenets of justice and equity, I am convinced that the provisional order (liquidation) must stand.
“I must reiterate this. In considering the intricate web of constitutional implications woven into the fabric of this case, it becomes evident that the principles of justice and equity must be upheld with unwavering diligence.
“In the circumstances, I make the
following order: The provisional order placing Tariomix is made final and is thereby placed under final winding-up,” the judge ruled.
Speaking to The Star yesterday, Liebenberg admitted that some of the investors were inconvenienced due to the ongoing legal matters and the freezing of some of his funds amounting to more than R100m.
In 2022, a preservation order obtained by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in 2021 froze R100m in bank accounts linked to him.
Liebenberg said the closure of his Kempton Park offices has resulted in his employees feeling uneasy and fearful of losing their jobs.
Attempts to get comment from the liquidators, FDG Liquidators, were unsuccessful at the time of going to print.