Cape Town - The State’s case against alleged Ponzi scheme operator Frederick Greyling, alias Frik Strauss, has been postponed to October 12 to allow him to consult with a new legal representative.
Greyling, whose case is set for the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, is charged with 20 counts of fraud, contravention of the Banks Act and a count of money laundering.
NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said: “He ran a Ponzi scheme with more than R10 million involved.”
The charge sheet said that Greyling devised a scheme, A Million Up Financing (Pty) Ltd, as far back as September 2004. That business, in which his then wife Susanna Strauss was the only director, was registered in George.
Greyling would solicit funds from members of the public on the basis that the capital would be invested in livestock and other business ventures.
The NPA said Greyling offered investors interest at more than 10% a month, or at a rate far in excess of prevailing market rates and then the returns to investors would be paid from money from their own investments and investments by other investors.
They explained that a Ponzi scheme differs from a pyramid scheme in that the returns are not dependent on any other intervention by the investors, for example, recruiting other investors to participate in such a scheme.
The prosecution said with Greyling’s interest rates, some alleged victims made multiple deposits in order to increase their aggregates
In 2014, Greyling had a warrant for his arrest issued but this was later stayed as a result of a medical certificate reflecting that he was being treated for a psychiatric condition.