Durban investor Glenn Molloy is recovering in an Underberg rehabilitation centre after apparently trying to take his life last week when a R40 million property deal went sour.
The mired real estate venture, which saw Molloy unable to reclaim R40m loaned to an associate, has left his creditors, many of who are pensioners, high and dry.
His clientele also included South African sporting personalities.
Molloy owns GM Investments, based in the Fairways Business Park in Mt Edgecombe, which specialises in micro-lending and bridging finance, providing funds immediately on the strength of monies owed to an individual.
As a side enterprise, the ex-banker is believed to have invested money on behalf of many of his close friends and others in a closed network, successfully delivering a 17.5% return.
Molloy is thought to have provided the R40m capital for a bid to buy the Sardinia Bay Golf Estate near Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape.
The nine-hole course is girthed by the estate, which is still under development.
It is flanked by the Sardinia Bay beach.
A source close to Molloy, who would not be named, said the deal was brokered in 2010 but had begun to unravel this year.
When the funds could not be repaid, a cash-strapped GM was unable to pay creditors their accrued interest or pay out their capital.
In the wake of this, Molloy allegedly tried to take his own life following a nervous breakdown as a result of mounting pressure from his creditors.
He is now in a rehabilitation centre in Underberg.
The manner in which he apparently tried to kill himself could not be confirmed.
Molloy yesterday declined to speak to the Sunday Tribune when approached for an interview at the exclusive Riverview Manor rehab centre.
His wife Sally said the events of the past two weeks had taken their toll on her.
“Right now I just can’t do this. Everything is so overwhelming and it is frankly too much to handle.
“I don’t want to talk to anyone about what happened with my husband,” she said.
“I was not involved in his business at all so I really can’t comment on what went wrong.
“My husband is an honest man who had one deal turn sour,” she added vehemently.
Brian Wilke, a creditor of GM, said he stood to lose R2.2m after his investment capital was utilised by Molloy in a property venture.
“A lot of the creditors who stand to lose a lot of money are pensioners, the situation really is dire.
“I have had to put my house up for sale because of this issue,” he said.
Wilke said Molloy had a close network of creditors and his business had been a success for many years.
“Glenn Molloy was a close friend of many of his creditors and since his business opened its core focus was micro-lending and bridging finance.”
He said the creditors had held a meeting at the Beachwood Estate on Tuesday to map the way forward and try to get their capital back.
“As it stands there is not enough capital for GM to pay the interest due to creditors, or pay out their capital if they want to pull out.
“The thought is that it can still operate doing micro-lending and bridging finance, and that all the creditors may recoup their money a long way down the road when the business is back on its feet.
“If the business goes into liquidation, none of the creditors will be able to get their money back,” he said. - Sunday Tribune