The arrest of Peet Viljoen in the US with his spouse, Real Housewives of Pretoria star Mel, is a latest of multiple brushes with the law for the disbarred lawyer, including the illegal transfer of state land in Johannesburg in 2010.
Viljoen’s 2010 arrest over the land matter has been brought into sharp focus after the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) said there had been another illegal transfer of 16 pieces of state land to private individuals in Joburg.
JPC spokesperson Lucky Sindane told Sowetan investigations into the latest illegal transfer in different parts of Johannesburg has revealed the involvement of a former employee. Sindane said the probe, which was conducted internally, revealed the former staffer was working as a consultant to an alleged syndicate involved in the illegal transfer of the 16 pieces of land.
Court records have also revealed Viljoen, who was disbarred in 2011, was among several accused, including businesspeople and officials linked to a similar property transactions back in 2010.
He was arrested with several people who allegedly played roles in the fraudulent transfers:
- Edwin Maringa, a lawyer from Roodepoort;
- Wiets Nell, a businessman from Pretoria;
- Ronel van Vuuren, a former employee of Viljoen;
- Dorah Madisha, former JPC manager; and
- Edmunda Sibisi, deputy registrar in the deeds office of the land affairs department.
The entities that allegedly benefited include:
- Eildoug Investments (Pty) Ltd; and
- Zambrotti Investments 31 (Pty) Ltd.
According to Sindane, the transfers were facilitated through a network involving officials from Sars, the deeds office and the municipality. Sindane said some of them entered into plea bargains with the state.
Viljoen and Mel were arrested on March 10 in the US for allegedly stealing groceries worth more than $5,300 (about R87,000) from Publix Super Markets using a “ticket-switching” method, as reported on Carte Blanche. The scheme allegedly involved scanning low-cost items such as seasoning packets while bagging more expensive goods.
Sowetan
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