A 65-year-old man accused of running a multimillion-rand investment scam has appeared before court after handing himself over to the Hawks on Thursday. Hawks spokesperson WO Thatohatsi Mavimbela said Jacobus Stefanus Geldenhuis is facing 21 counts of fraud and money laundering. “He is alleged to have defrauded unsuspecting victims through his company by misrepresenting himself as a financial advisor.
“Victims deposited money into different bank accounts provided by the suspect, promising to invest in offshore markets. However, the suspect never invested any of the money,” Mavimbela said. However, the suspect never invested any of the money She said investigators later discovered that Geldenhuis had been disbarred in 2009 and was no longer authorised to provide financial advice.
His company was also not registered with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), she said. “As a result of the suspect’s actions, victims suffered a loss of R100m,” Mavimbela said. Geldenhuis appeared before the Palm Ridge specialised commercial crimes court and was granted R10,000 bail. His matter was postponed to January 26 for the defence to receive copies of the docket.
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