Family spends lavishly on homes and cars

CONTROVERSY and investigations into contractor Daniel Singh’s business empire have not deterred his family from spending their multimillionrand fortune on luxury homes and exotic cars.

The family’s fleet includes a Ferrari 458 Spider worth about R4-million.

Just 21 days after Singh got the keys to his new R6.5-million apartment in July, one of his family’s companies was singled out in a damning forensic investigation report into tender irregularities and fraud in the eThekwini municipality.

The construction tycoon avoided media scrutiny by hiding out in one of more than seven luxury apartments, villas and mansions registered in the names of his son, Ravi Jagadasan, 31, and his ex-wife, Shireen Annamalay, 40.

It is believed Singh and Annamalay bought the apartment in Durban’s Pearls of Umhlanga because of its state-ofthe-art security.

The Manase report, which was released on July 23, recommended that the municipality sever ties with the family’s Gralio Precast and Hazedew Investments because of “shoddy” construction work.

However, Gralio Precast has continued to win contracts worth millions.

On Thursday, the municipality issued a press statement that revealed the company had been awarded in excess of R224-million since 2011 to build low-cost houses in Cornubia, a cabinet-endorsed R25-billion mixed-use development near Durban’s King Shaka airport.

Jagadasan runs most of the family’s businesses, ranging from construction to supermarket retail stores.

Included in his property portfolio is a 367m² home with four en suite bedrooms, which he bought in 2010 for R5.3-million in Zimbali, north of Durban.

He bought a home in Zim- bali’s Phezulu Villas enclave for R5-million.

He also bought a 1 093m² home in Durban’s posh gated Mount Edgecombe Estate for R10.8-million in 2010.

Down the road in Umhlanga, Singh’s family owns a 408m² house in sought-after Molokai Estate, which they picked up for R4.2-million in 2008.

A 1 250m² property Annamalay bought for R1.5-million in Umhlanga in 2004 is today valued at more than R6.5-million.

But despite their vast wealth, the family has attempted to remain down to earth by keeping an unassuming Tata Indica and Citi Golf among their fleet of cars.