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A Dutch wheeler-dealer who spun a luxury guest house into a R6.8-million bank loan has been slapped with a big penalty: 36 months of correctional supervision and a whopping R13.4-million forfeiture to the state. Not exactly the seaside retirement he had in mind.
Martin Lennard Korver, 59, who now lives in Plettenberg Bay with South African permanent residency, cooked up the con that landed him in the crosshairs of the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.
Korver admitted he duped Investec Bank Mauritius into dishing out the loan using a four-star Somerset West guest house as bait, which was an asset his company no longer owned and his co-directors knew nothing about. In short, he faked the collateral, scored the cash, and linked everything to his personal bank account. Classy.
He told a law firm to register a mortgage bond on the guest house “in favour of Investec Bank Mauritius to secure the said loan.” Never mind that his fellow directors at Cobow, which once owned Albourne Guest House, were completely in the dark.
Korver’s rap sheet includes “two counts of fraud, alternatively, theft, totalling R6.8m, five counts each of forgery, uttering and theft amounting to R5.5m and one count of money laundering”, per SowetanLive. Arrested in 2018, he finally folded and entered a plea and sentencing deal with the state.
NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila laid out the drama: in 2013, Korver opened the dodgy bank accounts, sneakily linking them to himself. By mid-2015, he opened both a call deposit and a loan account in the name of Korevest Investments Group (Pty) Ltd at Investec Bank Mauritius, scoring €442,602 (about R6.8m) using that oh-so-questionable guest house as security.
“The bank accounts were linked to his personal bank account without the knowledge and/or consent of the complainants,” said Ntabazalila.
And yet, he still claimed they knew some of what he was doing. Sure, Jan.
Korver was ultimately convicted of fraud (R6.8m) and theft (R4m). The court handed him two 10-year prison sentences—both suspended for five years, as long as he keeps his hands out of the cookie jar.
But it doesn’t end there. The Asset Forfeiture Unit swooped in and dug through his stash, leading to a R13.4-million forfeiture. And for the next 36 months, Korver will be under tight watch with 24/7 house arrest—except for work between 7am and 7pm on weekdays.
On weekends, he gets a church pass—Saturdays from 12 to 4pm and Sundays from 8am to noon. No booze, no drugs (unless a doctor says so), and definitely no unapproved travel. Even moving house or switching jobs needs official permission.
There’s also a community service clause (16 hours/month), mandatory rehab programmes, and a strict no-offending clause. One wrong move, and it’s goodbye ocean views, hello prison jumpsuit.
“Part of his sentence is that he will ensure that the 47% shareholding held by Korevest Leisure Group BV in Korevest Investments Group (Pty) Ltd is transferred to the Finserf Foundation,” said Ntabazalila. Plus, a R1.2m confiscation order will be paid in five days flat.
Prosecutor Denzyl Combrink said Korver “abused a position of trust” and caused financial carnage. “He committed the offences to gain an unfair and unjustified financial advantage.”
That “advantage” cost the company dearly—R1.5m to settle Korver’s unpaid loan, R3m in legal fees, and another R1.5m that had to be borrowed just to keep the lights on. SARS wasn’t impressed either, as tax liabilities stacked up while the whole thing unravelled.
Korver tried to game the system, and now the system’s watching his every move.
[Source: SowetanLive]
