Former property mogul Wendy Machanik is a ruined woman, with a liquidated company, a destroyed reputation and so broke she is unable to pay a R2.5 million get-out-of-jail fine.
The former multimillionaire is facing fraud charges and trying to negotiate a plea bargain with the State to receive a reduced prison sentence in exchange for information.
Machanik’s financial adviser, Bruce Bernstein, who is charged with her, is not involved in the plea bargain.
It is understood that he is hoping that Machanik will sign the agreement and he will be let off on the grounds that he was simply following his boss’s orders.
The immaculately dressed former property doyenne had bags under her eyes in her latest court appearance yesterday. Her shoulders were slumped and she looked tired.
Someone commented that she barely responded when people spoke to her. “It’s like she isn’t even there, her eyes are glazed over. That woman is holding on by a thread. She has nothing left of her life.”
Machanik is facing charges of fraud to the tune of R28m in the Commercial Crime Court for dipping into the Wendy Machanik Properties trust account. She has since paid back every cent by selling her personal property in Atholl and her business premises in Oxford Road, Rosebank.
According to recent reports, Machanik has been involved in negotiating a deal with the state where she would pay a R2.5m fine in order to escape a jail sentence.
But according to the report, she was unable to come up with the money and could not even pay her legal representative, Cyril Ziman.
Machanik hasn’t gone down alone. The agents who worked for her are likely to get either nothing or very little from her estate.
Many agents who worked for her are still trying to pick up the pieces.
Some are bitter, while others have put behind them the drama that plunged them into a financial mess and moved on with their lives.
“We are not doing well (although) we are working for somebody else now. We’ve never been paid a cent. The liquidators said we’ll probably not get a thing,” said one of the agents, who declined to be named.
The woman, who is owed more than R350 000 by Machanik, believes the fallen property doyenne would probably emigrate to Israel if the plea bargain she is negotiating with the State succeeded.
“We believe she has money outside the country, and if she gets away with this, she’ll definitely go,” said the woman.
Another agent said Machanik should pay for what she had done.
“I just feel that not once has anybody mentioned the money she has stolen from us.
“Nobody has mentioned that we are the agents who sweated blood and tears to sell houses so she could get part of our commission,” said the woman.
“I don’t think she should walk. She should pay.”
The first part of the liquidation process has already been wound up, leaving preferred creditors (employees and then Sars), and concurrent creditors (estate agents and any other service providers) out of pocket. Secure creditors are paid first, then preferred creditors and, finally, concurrent creditors are paid.
Liquidators estimated the company could bring in R21.4m but have so far been able to collect only R5.7m.
Secured creditors claimed R6m from the process, preferred creditors R5.5m and concurrent creditors R26m.
Standard Bank has been paid R1.6m and M Benjamin Investments R3.3m.
If more money comes in, the rest of the creditors will be paid. - Angelique Serrao and Omphitlhetse Mooki