Creditors still in the dark after huge losses

111112 Well-known businessman Glenn Molloy

111112 Well-known businessman Glenn Molloy

Published Jan 27, 2013

Share

Durban - It is business as usual for failed Durban investor Glenn Molloy, while police continue to investigate his dealings in the wake of a R40 million loss.

He has yet to make good on promises to pay creditors, many of whom are retired and have lost all their money.

The sizeable sum remains unaccounted for as an audit attempt unravelled when he would not lay bare his books.

Several former creditors have charged him with fraud.

When news broke of the former banker’s failed enterprise, he had been holed up in a rehabilitation centre in Underberg after apparently trying to take his own life.

At the centre of the controversy is his Durban-based microlending firm GM Investments, which specialises in providing bridging finance on the strength of money owed.

As a sideline, he is believed to have invested on behalf of friends and others in a close network, delivering returns of 17.5 percent.

Clients include prominent South African sports people.

The Sunday Tribune has established he has directorships in nearly 20 close corporations.

Initially it was reported he provided R40m to businessman Brett Waberski for Sardinia Bay Golf Estate near Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape.

But Waberski said GM Investments had invested R4m in development company Versatex, which went into liquidation and GM Investments had made a claim to liquidators.

A source close to Molloy, who would not be named, said some creditors of GM Investments had been trying to help Molloy get back into business.

“This is an effort to try to recoup the money they lost when everything went south. He has sworn to pay back every cent he owes, but I doubt that that will happen,” he said.

He added it was still unclear where all the creditors’ funds had gone. Repeated attempts to contact Molloy by phone and e-mail failed.

Kingsly Went, chairman of the recovery committee formed by creditors to rescue the ailing business, was tight-lipped.

“I am not going to discuss this matter,” he said.

Creditor Dave Bransma told the Sunday Tribune he had cut his losses. “We have to realise that life moves on and we need to get comfortable with what happened.

“I was one of the guys trying to keep Glenn in business and out of jail. If we could have kept him trading, we might have been able to get some money back,” he said.

He added the chances of getting his money back had been scuppered by those who had pushed for liquidation.

“Some ‘smart’ people decided to have him liquidated and now we must all suffer the consequences,” said Bransma.

Accountant Dalton Hartley said he had offered his services to those who lost money.

“I have a lot of friends who were affected. Another chartered accountant and I wanted to do a forensic audit on their behalf,” he said.

“We offered to go through the accounts to see where money had come in and gone out, examining all the transfers made.”

He said they would have looked for dormant deals by GM Investments.

“We wanted to see if there were any deals by GM Investments that were worth salvaging. We also wanted to find out if Molloy had used the funds for his own personal gain or funnelled the money to other companies,” he said.

Hartley said he had established Molloy was a director of nearly 20 close corporations and an intensive audit would be needed to follow the trail of the missing money.

“Whether all of them are actually trading is unclear.

“A huge sum is missing and no one can say where it has gone. All we want to know is where the money was invested and whether any of the funds could produce some assets,” said Hartley.

The accountant said Molloy’s creditors had not been interested in doing an audit.

“None of this ever happened. It is surprising that all those who lost money have not really pushed to get the ball rolling. They seem reluctant to get heavy, because they say Molloy is such a nice guy.

“He has not been forthcoming in divulging information,” he said.

Police spokesman Colonel Jay Naicker confirmed Molloy was under investigation.

List of companies

Hillcrest Tyre and Exhaust

Rhyalco Investments

Full Moon Trading

Silver Solutions 134

Coalition Trading 25

Trade Avail 379

Golden Rewards 256

GMI Investments

Pearl Star Investments 210

Castle Hill Trading 105

GPM Collection Solutions

Glenway Medical

Blanter

GMHA Discounting Consultants

Ridge Recruitment

Scottburgh Tyre and Exhaust

Golden Rewards 256

Pearl Star Investments 210

Seven Days Trading 39

[email protected]

Sunday Tribune

Related Topics: