Krejcir nest gone in minutes
IT took just 10 minutes yesterday for a mystery bidder to scoop the Bedfordview mansion of Czech fugitive and convicted criminal Radovan Krejcir.
Krejcir’s multimillion-rand Kloof Road home went under the hammer at a high-security auction at which the new owner outbid three others for the fourstorey house, which has four bedrooms, a lift, two walk-in closets, a swimming pool and a Jacuzzi.
Christiaan Gey van Pittius, in attendance with one of the bidders, said even though Krejcir’s house had some “beautiful” qualities, parts of it were “tacky”. And the level of security at the house was “kind of strange”.
Gey van Pittius, executive director of a property development company Real ProjeX, did not say why he had gone to yesterday’s auction.
According to the deeds, Krejcir bought the 2 285m2 property in 2008 for R13-million. Its “municipal land value” in 2012 was R6.9-million.
Bedfordview houses of a similar size have previously fetched up to R24-million.
Alistair McDonald, director of the Germiston-based auctioneer Michael James Organisation, was tight-lipped about the selling price and the identity of the new owner.
‘‘I can’t say anything — I’m not allowed . . . there was a confidential agreement with the new owner,” he said.
The Bedfordview property and another Krejcir house on the Vaal River were part of a South African Revenue Service preservation order that was effected during the auction to pay for his more than R100-million tax bill.
Krejcir bought the four-bedroom timber holiday home with “magnificent” views of the Vaal River for R4-million in 2008.
In August, Krejcir was convicted of kidnapping, attempted murder and drug dealing related to a botched drug deal. He will be sentenced next year.
His co-accused — businessman Desai Luphondo, taxi boss Siboniso Miya and Hawks warrant officers Samuel “Saddam” Maropeng, Jeff Nthoroane and Lefu Jan Mofokeng — were found guilty of kidnapping.
I can’t say anything — I’m not allowed