A lay pastor and businessman, who allegedly quoted verses from the Bible and blessed money investors brought to him in briefcases, is finally on trial, a decade after being accused of running a R140 million scam.
Mervin Dennis and his sister, Mary Ann Peter, have pleaded not guilty in Durban Magistrate’s Court to charges of fraud.
The pair have been accused of fleecing investors of R138.9 million.
The State, represented by advocate Khumbuzile Shazi, claimed Dennis had promised investors fantastic returns on their investments but had invested only R4.9 million on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
It emerged at the interrogation sessions in 2005 that Dennis had allegedly gambled away millions at various casinos.
He allegedly wagered R1 million for every spin on the roulette tables.
The case had dragged on from 2005 amid unsuccessful legal attempts by Dennis, who ran Global Investments and MR Dennis & Associates, to have the charges permanently stayed.
The State’s first witness, Gregory Mabusa, testified last week that in April 2005, when he had been an inspector with the Financial Services Board (FSB), he had overseen a search-and-seizure operation at Dennis’s premises at Salisbury Arcade in the Durban CBD.
He said Dennis did not want to allow him and his assistant inside the premises.
“The accused (Dennis) told me I must get a court order to search his premises. When I told him that the FSB was empowered by legislation to conduct searches and that I did not need a court order, he said he would get something bigger than a court order. I viewed that as a threat.
“After the accused said he was closing early because the next day was a religious holiday, my assistant and I went to a police station.
“We asked police to assist us to get a locksmith. We returned to Salisbury Arcade with four police officers and the locksmith,” Mabusa said.
The locks were removed and they then conducted the search.
“We put the documents into boxes, and had them labelled and couriered to Pretoria.
“The documents were voluminous. Because the Reserve Bank was also probing the affairs of Global Investments and MR Dennis & Associates, the FSB handed the seized items to the bank.”
Mabuza provided the court with light relief by saying the only thing that was left behind was a vibrator.
Advocate Jimmy Howse, acting for the accused, then responded by saying that it was very generous of Mabuza to have left a vibrator behind.
(Proceeding)