Investors cry fraud after R2.4m wedding
Aids-kit couple spent nearly R500 000 on garden loo for guests
IT is not every day that parents can throw a Cinderella wedding for their daughter at an estimated cost of R2.4-million.
That is how much a highflying Durban couple, John and Kathy Ellis, splashed out before their company’s shareholders accused them of fraud.
Edge to Edge Global Investments’s directors have been accused of defrauding the company of more than R70-million.
Invoices in court affidavits show that the Ellises had “an extraordinary high and expensive standard of living”.
The big-spending couple, who spared no costs for their daughter Maxine’s wedding in March last year, splashed out R489 000 to build a new toilet and bathroom facility in their R8.9-million home’s spacious garden after the bride allegedly did not want her guests using portable loos.
Other extravagant costs, detailed in affidavits in the High Court in Durban, include:
Airline tickets for family members to have bridesmaids’ and wedding dresses, designed by New York fashion designer Vera Wang, fitted in London. According to online catalogues, the designer’s dresses retail for between R45 000 and R120 000 each;
A giant marquee that cost R132 096 to rent;
R99 500 for lighting and electricity costs;
R92 260 for the cost of hiring waiters;
A R47 022 bill for high tea during the reception;
R41 385 to hire a chill tent for the guests;
R16 500 for the draping inside the marquee and tent;
R18 082 for the hiring of kitchen equipment; and
R13 000 for the coffee bar. Additional costs, such as the professional photographer and the bill for catering and bar services, were not included.
In her affidavit, Jennifer Etchells, the company’s former accountant, said although certain items were not included in the invoices, the total cost of the ceremony was more than R2.4-million.
“The cost of the various flights [for] family members to have the bridesmaids and wedding dresses fitted in London [were also not included],” she said.
Invoices produced by Etchells in her affidavit show that R1.4million was paid to the wedding coordinator.
One of the wedding guests wrote on a blog that the ceremony was “one of the most exquisite weddings I have ever been to”.
She added that Maxine was a “superstar bride in her incredible Vera Wang dress”.
“When I say that they thought of everything, it’s an understatement. The house was transformed into a wedding venue of any girl’s dreams, with white roses . . . an abundance of candles, delicious food, desserts and snacks and the most beautiful chandeliers.
“It was fit for a princess!” the guest wrote.
Maxine and the groom, Steve Barritt, tied the knot at the Highbury Preparatory School’s chapel in Hillcrest before the guests were hosted at a lavish reception at the family’s home in Durban’s exclusive Marriott Road.
But festivities had hardly died down before investors of Edge to Edge Global Investments, a company that claimed to have patented a “life-changing” Aids nutrition pack, demanded a detailed account of their investments.
Investors, who bought shares worth R70-million in the company, are asking the high court for permission to liquidate it.
Despite the company having sold only about 15 nutrition packs consisting of porridge, nutritional supplements and water-purifying drops, court papers reveal that the Ellises enjoy an extravagant lifestyle.
Attorney Tina Halstead, who is representing the investors, said her clients had taken a decision to take their case to court because “they do not want this to happen to other people. They are prepared to fight until the end.”
It also emerged this week that the Ellises decorated their Marriott Road home at a cost of about R5-million.
Celebrity interior decorator Carl Fitschen, who spent six years working on the home, declined to comment.
But the Sunday Times has established that although the bulk of Fitschen’s work was completed in 18 months, the Ellises repeatedly commissioned his services.
The palatial double-storey home on the 2 182m² property features five bedrooms, two
Investors were allegedly made to believe that their money was being used to have clinical testing on the products conducted by Nobel prize-winner Luc Montagnier, who is credited with the discovery of HIV
lounges, a banquet-size dining room, ladies parlour, gentleman’s study, two private bar areas, breakfast room, gymnasium and Pilates room, as well as a wine cellar and a gracious veranda with views of the city.
Expensive chandeliers and antique furniture bought from Roger England Antiques, an exclusive store that imports its wares from London, are sprinkled through the house, which recently featured in Home Owner magazine.
Investors were allegedly made to believe that their money was being used to have clinical testing on the products conducted by Nobel prize-winner Luc Montagnier, who is credited with the discovery of HIV.
They also thought that part of their investment was being used to list the company on stock exchanges and to develep the business.