The ice man conneth
Lynn Williams , Die Burger
Port Elizabeth - Ever heard of people who could sell ice to Eskimos?
The opposite was true for a man from Port Elizabeth who has landed in hot water for apparently conning a lot of people, who were supposed to produce and sell ice through his company.
Alain-Paul Oelofse is facing a string of theft and fraud charges involving about R7m.
At the time of the alleged crimes, Oelofse was the single shareholder and director of a company called Dortyger 11 (Pty) Ltd.
He changed the name in January 2004 to Cornecto (Pty) Ltd.
The State claims Oelofse canvassed people through newspaper ads between 2001 and 2003 to manufacture ice.
He signed agreements with the ice makers, and they were to have made ice for various dealers, the names of whom would have been provided by Oelofse.
Had to invest in scheme
Oelofse was to have provided the unsuspecting people interested in making the ice with freezers, ice-making machines and other equipment.
He apparently signed the contracts in his capacity as director of Cornecto and Miklain Enterprises Inc (Pty). Miklain apparently never existed.
The ice-makers apparently had to invest between R90 000 and R300 000 and were to have done business under the name of Global Ice.
According to the charge sheet, the ice-making was a flop and tons of ice have been stored in containers since 2003.
"There was an overproduction of ice in Port Elizabeth. The accused appointed manufacturers without getting the necessary buyers," it is claimed in the charge sheet.
Company truck was sold
Oelofse apparently used the money paid in by newly acquired ice-makers to pay previous ones, and kept advertising for new providers.
One of the theft charges was related to the sale of a Hyundai truck belonging to the company.
Oelofse allegedly transferred the money from the sale of the truck from Cornecto's account to his personal one.
News source: www.news24.co.za
Posted by: www.SouthAfrica-CarHire.com
