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THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE CAMPAIGN
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In The Beginning
I had visited Cape Town regularly for twenty years and lived there from 2014 to 2016. I returned to Cape Town in December 2020, intending to split my time between homes in London and Cape Town. I leased the property in Hove Road, Camps Bay, initially for 3 months to sync with my 90-day visa, to see if the idea was workable.
However, COVID-19 restrictions made travel impossible for most of 2021 and parts of 2022. Due to the inability to travel to the UK, I signed a one-year lease extension, importantly with the option (for the tenant only) of an extension for another year. The house was large as it had been intended to host friends and family on vacation. However, as that was not possible, I made significant improvements to the property and began renting out the lower half to overseas tourists via platforms such as Airbnb, Booking.com, etc. At all times, with the knowledge and blessing of the owner.
The property and, more significantly, my changes proved extremely popular, and soon, the diary was fully booked.
Continuing to transform the property in the first half of 2021 with the knowledge, blessing, and encouragement of the owner, whom I thought I enjoyed an excellent relationship with. Conversations about my tenure soon referenced the property as a "forever home." Including discussions about purchasing the property when I had obtained a more permanent form of residency, which was the clear intention.
FACT FILE
IN THE BEGINING
Having visited Cape Town for two decades and lived there from 2014 to 2016, I returned in December 2020, intending to split my time between London and Cape Town. I leased a property in Camps Bay for three months to align with my 90-day visa. However, COVID-19 travel restrictions prevented my return to the UK, leading to a one-year lease extension with an option for an additional year at my discretion. With the owner's full knowledge and support, I made significant improvements to the property and began renting the lower half to overseas tourists, which became highly successful. Conversations with the owner evolved from extending the lease to potentially purchasing the home once permanent residency was secured.
The First Illegal Eviction
However, my first taste of what was to come came in June 2021, when I was a few days late with the rent, due to delays in the sale of an item from my art collection. Despite having kept the owner informed, despite our (apparently) excellent relationship, and despite the demonstrable effort and money I had expended on the property, as the 7th day began (the first point at which the lease mentioned a landlord being able to give notice), at 9 a.m., PVW (the partner of the owner) called me and demanded my immediate vacation "or else.”
This was followed by threats and visits by dubious characters carrying similar messages and threats.
Fortunately, shortly after that, I received funds from the sale of artwork and paid the rent. Having researched the legal position, it became clear that I was aware of my rights under the law and would not be bullied into leaving or not legally responding to physical removal.
This attempt at an illegal eviction came by no coincidence after the improvement works had finished and the owners were aware they could charge significantly higher rent. As did every other one that followed.
Contrary to statements and affidavits by consortium members, I paid rent and utilities in full and on time throughout my leases. This was despite the persistent attacks throughout 2022, the most effective of which was the April attack where the consortium had every single profile removed simultaneously by contacting the platforms to allege variously that the properties did not exist, that I was not the legal tenant, and that I had no right to rent the properties out. Followed by the illegal arrest and incarceration of August.
Those making the allegations of rental arrears were, perversely, the same people attacking every source of revenue to deny me the ability to pay the rent. Inevitably, in the months that followed the April attacks, what had been an exemplary payment record began to falter on some of the properties. The summary position is that all rent on 32FB and 16LR was paid in full for the full period of occupation; on 12HR, all rents were paid for the year and a half of occupation with circa two months’ rent contra against the substantial improvements made, and two months on the 07MR properties existing at the point of the illegal eviction but full payment was offered in return for promises such attempts would not be made. The sum total is R3.2 million in rent due for all the periods of occupation on all the properties, and the sum of R3.5 million paid by me across all properties.
FACT FILE
THE FIRST ILLEGAL EVICTION
In June 2021, a few days’ delay in rent due to an art sale led to the first eviction attempt. Despite keeping the owner informed and having a positive relationship, PVW, the owner’s partner, called on the 7th day—the first point at which notice could legally be given—demanding immediate vacation under threat. This was followed by intimidation tactics involving dubious individuals. The timing coincided with the completion of property improvements, making the unit more valuable. The eviction was unlawful, and despite continuous rent payments, further attacks followed, including an April 2022 attempt to cut off all rental revenue streams, leading to financial strain and an eventual illegal arrest in August.
The Proposal
In September 2021, Gail Broad, an agent impressed with the transformation of the Camps Bay property, offered me a villa in Llandudno—16 LR, belonging to her cousin, Keith Broad.
The proposal was for me to lease and renovate the property to bring it up to the standards needed to rent it to very high-end guests (mainly overseas tourists on holiday) in return for a long-term tenure of at least five years. Over this time, I would recoup my investment and eventually make a profit.
The Big Con
However, it was later discovered that the promise was made to induce me into transforming the property as I had done with the Camps Bay property, with no intention or ability to honour even a few months of tenure.
By way of explanation, from 2020 to 2021, the property had been for sale in the R22 to R24 million price range but had no interest. The sale was essential to clearing the debts that threatened to bankrupt Keith Broad and his wife, Inge Broad.
The owners faced two options: 1) reduce the price to achieve a sale or 2) completely transform the property to achieve the desired price.
However, they could not afford to drop the price as this would not be enough to clear the debts, and they did not have the money needed to renovate the property (nor, for that matter, the design skills required).
They further could not afford the months of no rent that a building project would result in.
If they could get a free interior design, free landscape design, free refurbishment, and free project management, while at the same time ensuring rental income continued, then that would solve their problems. But such things do not exist in an ordinary world. Hence, when Gail Broad mentioned how I had transformed the property in Camps Bay, the plan to dupe me into taking the property, renovating it, and then taking it back was born.
As one indication of the plan, the cost of servicing the debts meant there was never any intention of allowing my tenancy to go beyond the time it took to refurbish the property. Something I was not aware of at the time. We estimate interest payments of R200,000 monthly for the mortgage, secured, and unsecured debts. The rent was R90,000, equating to R80,000 after estate agents’ fees. The owners could not afford to contribute to the sum above the net rent received. Their only source of income was a coffee shop that had made a loss during COVID. So how would they have managed for six months? The notion that they could have managed for 12 months is highly implausible. And the idea they could subsidize their situation for 5 years is impossible.
The lease started on the 15th of October, and I immediately began renovating the property.
Seeing the transformation progress, Gail Broad made a similar proposal for the two villas on Monterey Road, Hout Bay, belonging to her good friends MR and RS. It was agreed that the lease would commence on 1st December 2021.
Multiple events during the refurbishment of 16LR caused me serious concerns. Keith Broad's housekeeper was caught trying to defraud me of R30,000 on decorating works (it is thought under instruction from Keith Broad, although this cannot be proven) and another occasion feeding back daily reports to Keith Broad (both written and photographic) and arguably more alarmingly giving very detailed almost daily accounts of progress and details of the work being done to Keith Broad. I asked Keith Broad for support in dismissing the housekeeper, but Keith Broad verbally stalled and declined.
It was becoming clear that I would experience significant problems with Keith Broad, Inge Broad, et al., although no one had any idea how significant this would turn out to be.
I was conscious of an unfolding position and vulnerability whereby three of the villas/leases/proposals had emanated from and were in effect controlled by Gail Broad (with all the accompanying concerns), and the other villa/lease by D, who had already shown herself very trigger-happy and keen to take back the property.
As such, a lease was negotiated and signed on 32 Fisherman's Bend, a property with no connection to any of the above and one that I intended to move to. One where the landlord had assured me that he had no interest in similar antics due to his considerable wealth. The lease also started on 1st December 2021.
FACT FILE
THE BIG CON
The proposal to lease and renovate 16 LR was later revealed to be a scheme to secure free renovations. The owners, Keith and Inge Broad, were facing financial distress, with debts so high that selling the property at its listed price of R22–R24 million was essential to avoid bankruptcy. However, dropping the price was not an option, and they lacked the funds for renovation.
The plan, devised after Gail Broad highlighted my successful Camps Bay transformation, ensured they received free design, refurbishment, and project management while maintaining rental income. My lease began on 15 October 2021, and renovations started immediately. As I worked, Gail Broad proposed similar deals for two villas in Hout Bay. Meanwhile, fraudulent activities by Keith Broad’s housekeeper and covert monitoring of my progress signaled deeper issues. To avoid further entanglement, I secured a lease on 32 Fisherman’s Bend, a property free from their control, starting 1 December 2021.
The Consortium’s Prize
The result was a collection of five exceptional properties (separating into six residences) worth several million more than before the works and commanding rents of many millions more per year than they used to.
A combined increase in capital values of R30 million and a combined increase in rental income over the agreed five-year tenure of R150 million.
Before the transformations, the landlords obtained an estimated combined rental of three million annually. After the transformations, I obtained rental income equivalent to thirty million per annum. The landlords would, therefore, receive a 27,000,000 premium per year if they could steal the properties.
For example, in the case of 32 Fisherman's Bend, after my transformation, the property's rental income was R500,000 to R900,000 per month, depending on the time of year. This is comparable to the R100,000 per month I was paying the landlord.
However, while I was in occupation, neither the sale nor the rental premium created by me were accessible to the owners. In 2022, the landlords began collaborating and embarked on a year-long campaign against me to wrestle the properties away.
I took all of the risks, chose the properties for their potential, had the vision and the concepts, and managed the projects, labour, work, quotations, budgeting, etc., from start to finish. I used my taste, expertise, and years of experience, as well as my life savings. And then the landlords sought to take it from me. And in a way, I would end up with literally nothing.
The consortium made numerous attempts, both via legal and illegal routes. The justifications for these were diverse and interchangeable. All were demonstrably false.
The Consortium’s Prize
Five properties, transformed into six luxury residences, saw their value rise by R30 million, with rental income increasing by R150 million over five years. Landlords, who once earned R3 million annually, now stood to make R30 million per year—an increase of R27 million annually.
The Fisherman’s Bend Windfall
At 32 Fisherman’s Bend, rental income soared from R100,000 per month to between R500,000 and R900,000 per month. While I occupied the property, landlords could not access this premium—driving them to reclaim it by any means.
The Takeover Attempt
In 2022, the landlords launched a coordinated campaign to seize control of the properties. Despite taking all the risks and investing my life savings, I faced losing everything.
False Justifications
The consortium pursued legal and illegal tactics, using interchangeable and false claims to justify their actions. Their aim was clear—take what they had neither built nor invested in.
Omicron, The 50,000% Growth Spurt & The Refurbishments
On 24 November 2021, the new variant of Covid was announced—the “South African” variant. Omicron, as it became known, caused absolute chaos. Many guests went through a process of cancelling, rebooking, cancelling, and rebooking in line with the ever-changing news cycle. Income that would have been in the millions crashed to zero, with outflows of funds resulting from the variant.
Some cancellations within the terms of the rental agreement permitted a refund, while others did not. i.e., it must “be impossible to travel at the time of travel.” For example, guests looking to cancel in November for bookings on a stay in February did not qualify. This caused considerable rancour, but as I explained at the time, a villa host cannot be expected to step into the shoes of a holiday insurance policy that those guests chose not to take out, likely because of the cost of doing so.
I attempted to remove the stress and uncertainty from the equation in an extremely generous and costly gesture. Guests were torn between wanting to cancel so they did not spend weeks or months wondering if the flight would be cancelled due to flight restrictions but not being able to due to the terms of the agreement and cancelling straight away and forfeiting the sum paid if the variant receded as others had done. I offered every guest the right to transfer their dates regardless of their booked dates. The cost of which was, in effect, the entire value of all current bookings combined. To my knowledge, no other host made such a sweeping or generous offer. Some guests took up the offer, others ignored the advice I gave, including in three detailed memos over the three weeks of flight restrictions, not to make rash decisions and explaining the consequences of doing so as well as clearly spelling out the various options.
Omicron’s Impact: A Sudden Collapse
On 24 November 2021, the Omicron variant was announced, triggering widespread panic. Guests frantically canceled and rebooked as restrictions changed, causing projected income in the millions to crash to zero. Meanwhile, outflows continued, straining financial stability.
A Costly Compromise
While some cancellations qualified for refunds, others did not. To ease uncertainty, I made an extraordinary offer—allowing all guests to transfer their bookings at no cost. This decision effectively amounted to forfeiting the entire value of current bookings.
Ignored Warnings
Despite three detailed memos outlining options, some guests ignored the advice not to make rash cancellations. My unprecedented offer stood, but no other host made a similar concession.
The Perfect Storm
The timing could not have been worse. Between October and December, the portfolio had gone from:
Renting out half of one villa in Camps Bay (2 bedrooms) to rent six residences with 32 bedrooms. Representing a 1,500% increase.
From two platforms to twelve.
From two tiers of pricing to eight tiers.
The number of booking options per day increased from 4 to 567 (six residences, twelve platforms, eight price tiers).
A change of plus 50,000%. With the commensurate increase in inquiries, bookings, emails, platform messaging, date and villa changes, cancellations, etc.
Doing so with the same manual systems, staff, and management infrastructure.
Even at a quiet time of year, with no external forces or factors at play and no other drains on time or resources, this was an enormous jump in activity.
But this was not a quiet time; it was certainly not without external factors or forces, and it was not without drains on time and resources.
This leap came simultaneously with managing multiple property transformations, which were, in effect, full refurbishments, consisting of over thirty projects across the collection. As well as the design, planning, budgeting, and project management.
Added to this was the reality of managing and accommodating the sharp rise in bookings as each set of guests arrived. Much of what one would expect in managing six large groups of wealthy tourists simultaneously across the portfolio: airport transfers, check-ins, check-outs, guest experience management, and service delivery, as well as challenges like recruiting and managing twelve housekeepers.
The biggest portion of the rise comes at the beginning of December.
On top of all of this, the pandemic thought to be on its way out came back with a vengeance—not in some distant country but on our doorstep—the unfairly named “South African” strain.
Omicron’s timing created a perfect storm in and of itself. It was so close to the start of the summer and peak seasons that guests felt compelled to cancel, and it was too close to the peak and summer periods for the lifting of flight restrictions to have any material impact. In addition, the near total collapse of new bookings, the collapse of revenue over the period of the restrictions and not recovering to normal levels for months.
But when added to all those other factors, this perfect storm was a Force Ten hurricane. All of the above, as well as the leases commencing, refurbishment projects, villa readiness for letting, and managing the multiple live stays, all simultaneously as Omicron.
Omicron also destroyed the pre-season period before the start of the summer season, which would normally be the period when the bookings are confirmed, the diary is firmed up, rearranged where necessary, and villa or date swaps are implemented. The aim was to create a static, well-organized diary.
That essential lead-in period, made all the more important due to the short and chaotic period of bookings before, was only available because Omicron itself turned into chaos. Inevitably, there were diary clashes, but not the hundreds that were possible, taking into account the above. Less than half a dozen and only on Xmas Day and NYE. Each of which was offered other villas. In three cases, my own home, which I moved out of to accommodate. Additionally, other villas were paid for by me at rates far higher than the guests had paid due to the short notice.
As the effects of Omicron began to subside in January, the portfolio and I had withstood the storm and, in many respects, performed remarkably well considering, but rather than get credit for the achievements and successes, the consortium seized on failures and mistakes, misrepresenting them as fraud, as if the whole thing had been planned months in advance. An absurd notion in itself unless I possess fortune-telling abilities.
However, were it not for Omicron in the lead-up period, the volume and value of bookings in the tens of millions would have allowed for the most generous upgrades and position on cancellation clauses.
FACT FILE
THE PERFECT STORM
Between October and December, the portfolio expanded from a single two-bedroom rental to six residences with 32 bedrooms—a 1,500% increase. Booking options skyrocketed from 4 to 567 daily, with a surge in inquiries, cancellations, and logistical demands, all managed with the same limited infrastructure. Simultaneously, over 30 refurbishment projects were underway, requiring budgeting, planning, and workforce coordination.
Then, Omicron struck. Mass cancellations wiped out expected revenue, while flight restrictions disrupted pre-season planning, creating diary clashes at peak season. Despite the chaos, the portfolio remained operational, absorbing costs and accommodating displaced guests—sometimes at personal expense. Yet, instead of recognition for managing an unprecedented crisis, the consortium distorted setbacks as fraud, ignoring the scale of what had been achieved.
A Shepherd Herding Her Flock Over the Cliff
As opposed to providing empathy or support to their tenant battered by the storm, the owners chose to exploit it instead. Paula Disberry and her partner PVW actively went south and then cynically corralled any disgruntled guests into one amorphous group. The first sign is that their intentions and motives were not as portrayed.
A list of circa a dozen bookings (when referenced mischievously referencing the number of guests rather than the number of bookings to exaggerate the optic), the majority of which were guests who had cancelled but fell outside of the terms allowing a refund. Clumping them together with the diary clash bookings, of which a later audit showed there to be only three, where there was a valid grievance and who would have been offered a variety of options were they not discouraged from the dialogue by Paula Disberry and PVW, prejudicing those guests and deceiving the others into thinking they had been intentionally defrauded.
Crucially, Paula Disberry and PVW had directly opposing needs and goals. Paula Disberry and PVW wanted me ruined and their property back. Any guest would have wanted a stay or a refund. Ruining me and taking my portfolio was the best way to guarantee the guest got neither.
This one fact alone demonstrates that the intention can only have been to use the guests as ammunition rather than to help them.
Paula Disberry and PVW cruelly offered ambiguous hope. The idea of “resolution” never revealed that their idea of resolution differed greatly from the guests.
Paula Disberry and PVW discouraged direct dialogue or accepting offers of date changes. Instead, compile a list and keep it locked away. The only use planned for it and those on it was as ammunition in their battle with me. Dusted off for the August bail application and again for the December bail application.
It was also used as justification for many of the attacks. As well as in civil proceedings.
The question has to be asked: how does trying to ruin a business and constantly pulling down its online advertising help any guest or client looking to that business to provide anything, especially a refund?
Had the guests been given a choice between revenge and refund, they would have chosen a refund.
The faux concern of the consortium is highlighted by the fact that since stealing back the properties and the millions these already wealthy individuals have gained from that, not one cent has been given to any of their herd whom they made so many promises to and whose minds they toxified.
FACT FILE
Over the Cliff
Instead of supporting a tenant weathering the storm, Paula Disberry and PVW exploited the crisis. They corralled disgruntled guests—many ineligible for refunds—into a single, exaggerated group, misleading them into believing they had been defrauded. Their goal was not resolution but to weaponize guest frustrations against me.
They actively discouraged dialogue, date changes, or settlements, keeping grievances locked away to use in legal battles. Despite reclaiming the properties and profiting from them, they never compensated the very guests they manipulated, proving their concern was never about fairness—only about taking me down.
The Misappropriation of Funds
In December 2022, still ignorant of any role Gail Broad may have had in either the initial deceit or the deceits that followed, she and her business partner JS persuaded me to hand over all the letting and management functions of the portfolio. The central justification was to ensure the professional and efficient running of the letting, booking, and diary systems, to avoid diary clashes, and to offer the best guest experience.
With six residences, via which eleven configurations were offered, a dozen platforms, eight price tiers, and a capacity of roughly 550 stays per year, with all the housekeeping staff, property management, and other issues so many bookings would generate, it was clear the portfolio required comprehensive and professional management.
It was a disaster. Letting performance was non-existent. It was the only period ever during which there were almost no lets. And at the busiest time of year. Whereas I ensured a full diary on the occasions I managed the bookings, under new management, the figures were 90% less. However, expenditure increased massively. Quadrupling in some areas. As it happened, expenditure on invoices related to and from which Gail Broad benefited suddenly appeared. Including over R100,000 payable to her and her husband personally and R50,000 in petty cash that has never been accounted for.
The Illegal Evictions Begin
The first of many attempts to take the property 16 Leirmans Road took place on 24 December 2022.
Rent Arrears: There were no rent arrears on the properties, and Anton Moller, manager of Rawson Properties, who managed three of these, confirmed this in his affidavit.
Damages: One of the most disingenuous lies told. Labelling millions of Rand of improvements as “damage.”
Scams: This was not even on the consortium's radar.
FACT FILE
THE MISAPPROPRIATION OF FUNDS
In December 2022, Gail Broad and her business partner JS persuaded me to hand over the full management of the portfolio, citing the need for professional oversight to avoid diary clashes and provide the best guest experience. However, the results were disastrous. Letting performance dropped by 90%, and expenditure soared, including costs benefiting Gail Broad and her husband, totaling over R100,000. Additionally, R50,000 in petty cash remains unaccounted for. This marked the only time in the portfolio’s history when letting was almost nonexistent during peak season, exposing financial mismanagement and misuse of funds.
The Sham Scam Narrative
The scam narrative was built up by Paula Disberry and PVW, although some months after the events they referenced. Misrepresenting the handful of diary clashes as some kind of premeditated scam. It was never mentioned in a single court document until late 2022. At the point of the consortium's initial attempts to steal their respective properties, the fallout of Omicron had not even happened, let alone been registered. And it was not given as a reason for any of Keith Broad’s illegal eviction attempts or the attempts through the civil courts that formed a part of the approach from January to September. For all the faux concern and empathy, she portrayed to assist in compiling the list, PV did nothing that was in any way in any way in the interests of those she trapped in the list.
Despite being under the impression, I enjoyed a good and professional relationship with PV, knowing the value I placed on her support and the property, she, more than anyone, was in a prime position to advance any guest’s case. She could have approached me with any number of proposals or requests. But for the eight months she compiled the list, she kept its existence and its contents a secret until it could serve a purpose that suited her needs and that benefited her.
The handing over of control was one of the dozens of obvious signs there was no scam, sham, or attempt to defraud. Someone busy scamming guests and earning from it does not turn over the entire responsibility for all letting management and financial functions to another. This and many other similar reasons are listed in the document “70 reasons why it’s not a scam.”
FACT FILE
SHAM SCAM
The scam narrative was fabricated by Paula Disberry and PVW months after the events they referenced. Misrepresenting a handful of diary clashes, they falsely portrayed these as part of a premeditated scam. This narrative was never mentioned in any court documents until late 2022. At the time of the consortium’s initial attempts to seize the properties, the fallout from Omicron had not yet occurred.
The Proof Is in The Pudding
For all the allegations of scams, the proof clearly exposes the lies. On the one side, the consortium (consisting of a dozen members by October), a total of 5 Private Investigators, the police motivated by the lies, and whatever guests they could encourage to assist, plus the journalist they duped and any readers of the articles. Their housekeepers at the properties and others. All entirely focused on finding any evidence of scams.
Part of the purpose of the articles was to encourage “victims” to come forward, explicitly inviting them to. None did.
Wouter de Swardt has spent a year and a half investigating me, a substantial portion of that time full-time, and likely still is.
JS and DD for over a year, 2 months of which they spent in the unique position of me under the illusion they were working on my behalf. Thereby having my trust and inside access. For a full month, the bodyguard AD lived in my home, his bedroom adjoining my office, where he would go whenever I was away from the office and access my laptop and database—using similar opportunities to search the property for the mythical suitcase of black diamonds and cash.
Paula Disberry and PVW for 2 years, likely since their first failed attempt at an illegal eviction in June 2021. This included convincing several guests that they had been purposely scammed and motivating them against me.
The police for a year and a half. Various Investigating Officers, with Wouter de Swardt replacing them as they became discredited.
Potential witnesses were threatened and bribed.
The commercial crimes unit dedicated staff to the exercise.
My equipment and devices, as well as files and paperwork, were confiscated by the police during the Wouter de Swardt operation at 32 Fisherman's Bend. I voided all the passwords, giving them unrestricted access to every piece of information ever created.
The NPA were instructed by the Investigating Officer to pursue three different sets of charges.
And yet, despite the dozens of people, the thousands of hours, the unrivalled resources, the unique and direct access to information and data, possession of and access to my devices, despite being the subject of multiple private investigators' investigations, all of whom were very motivated to find something useful… they found… nothing.
Constant promises evidence would be forthcoming soon if one assumes an attempt to kick the subject into the long grass has resulted in… nothing. Their tactics were rewarded as the allegations stuck, and the need to produce proof fell away with the lack of pressure for it.
FACT FILE
THE PROOF IN THE PUDDING
Despite extensive investigations by multiple private investigators, the police, and the consortium, no evidence of a scam was ever found. The investigation included access to personal devices, documents, and extensive data, but after months of scrutiny, nothing came up. Despite the overwhelming resources and opportunities to find wrongdoing, no tangible evidence emerged, undermining the allegations and showing how the accusations were fabricated.
Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics
It is important to note that these are exceptionally large villas. They were accommodating up to thirty guests per booking. With an average of a dozen guests per booking. So, twelve guests for every booking made, invariably adults, all of whom would have contributed to the cost of the stay. All with their own bank accounts and their own credit cards. And likely their own online profiles and social media accounts on Instagram, Facebook, etc. Therefore, each represents an angry and disgruntled guest, a bank investigation or account freeze, a credit card company investigation, or a platform investigation.
Why, then, is there complete silence… Unless I arranged for these thousands of guests and their respective and various powers of recourse or revenge to be abducted by aliens and taken to a distant galaxy, what could possibly explain the complete absence of any clamour or hint of victims?
And if the allegations were true, then even an incompetent police service would have more than enough to secure a conviction: Motivated victims, wealthy victims, actual and substantial losses, volumes and volumes of evidence and data (by definition of the paper trail every booking creates and leaves), the resources of the platforms that would be deployed to aid anyone scammed or anyone investigating a scam, the power of the internet and social media in encouraging victims to come forward, the kudos, brownie points, and statistical merit of nailing a white man, even better a foreigner, middle class and middle-aged. If the allegations were true, thousands of guests would have been scammed. Were even a fraction of the allegations true, then among the hundreds of guests. But take it to an absurd degree and suggest only a few dozen bookings that is in itself more than a few hundred individual guests.
FACT FILE
THE LIES & STATISTICS
The villas could accommodate up to thirty guests per booking, with an average of twelve adults per stay. Each guest had their own bank account, credit cards, and social media profiles, providing ample opportunities for complaints, investigations, or public outcry if they were victims of a scam. Yet, there was no evidence of any such response. If the allegations were true, police and platforms would have quickly gathered evidence, but instead, no victims came forward. The absence of complaints or action against the alleged scam shows the lack of truth behind the accusations.
The Big Lie
In the articles fed by Wouter de Swardt in August 2022 and December 2022, directly after the 14 December arrest, in one breath, Wouter de Swardt states that R34 million has been scammed in the prior year (i.e., the period before the article of mid-December). Yet, he offers not one single example of anyone who was defrauded.
At an average value of R20,000 per booking, with an average of twelve guests per booking, the R34 million figure Wouter de Swardt keeps repeating and has been used in court documents and would no doubt have been used in a bail application had it proceeded in December, this represents some 1,700 bookings. Extrapolate that and that would be circa 2,000+ transactions. And it would mean 20,000+ potential guests who would have been scammed.
Excluding the charges later withdrawn by the prosecution:
Not one of these circa twenty thousand guests has come forward to say they have been scammed.
Not prior to the first arrest, not between either arrest, or not after the second arrest.
Not after the prominent coverage in the press and online.
Not one of the twenty thousand has reported the matter to the police.
Not one of the twenty thousand guests has posted anything online.
Not one of the 1,700 bookings, the 20,000 guests, or the R34 million scammed has resulted in a single complaint to a bank and, therefore, a bank freeze or investigation. There was not one single report of fraud out of the 1,700-3,000 transactions that would have made up these bookings.
Not one of the 20,000 guests or the R32 million, which would represent as many as two thousand card transactions, has resulted in a refund request or chargeback on any credit currently in circulation in the known galaxy.
Not one of the 20,000 guests has initiated any form of legal proceedings.
Not one of the twenty thousand guests has contacted a newspaper or media outlet.
None of these 20,000 guests reported one cent being scammed on any platform.
Not a single email exists referencing any scams or guests being scammed.
Not a single email, platform message, or phone call exists regarding the 1,700 bookings these would have related to.
Not a single police report or platform investigation.
In addition, there is no trace of the R34 million scam.
There is no facet, hint, or clue as to one single cent identified going into any accounts, leaving any accounts, being sent from a guest, or being transacted on a credit card.
Not one email even referenced a fraudulent transfer.
There is not one message on the platform message system referencing fraudulent transactions.
The simple reason is that the statement is a total fabrication. The absurdity of the statement is further underlined by the fact that each time a guest would have been scammed, the moment they realized that, whether upon arrival or before, they would naturally have not just reported it to their card company, bank, etc., but also to the platform. Immediately afterward, the platform will remove the profiles and property adverts and cancel the host’s account. And done so permanently.
That host would then need to set up entirely new profiles under a new name with a new ID and new proof of address, pass the platform security checks and pass the platform validation checks on the villas themselves. Which if the villas showed as ones previously struck off would kill any such application. This process would have to be followed every time a fraud complaint was received. Which if there was a shred of truth to the claims of Wouter de Swardt or even a scam in operation at a fraction of the sums stated, this process would be required dozens and dozens of times.
Yet I operated the same profile account from early 2021 and throughout 2021 and 2022. Only in February 2023, two months into the remand, was the account paused as a result of the guests created by Wouter de Swardt complained and no reply was received by me who was in Pollsmoor.
FACT FILE
THE BIG LIE
In the articles promoted by Wouter de Swardt in December 2022, he claimed R34 million had been scammed in the year prior but failed to provide any concrete examples of defrauded guests. With an average booking value of R20,000, this would imply 1,700 bookings and 20,000 guests being scammed. However, not a single guest has come forward to report fraud, initiate legal action, or even contact banks or media outlets.
Despite extensive coverage in the press, no complaints were filed, no chargebacks occurred, and no investigations were launched. The absence of evidence, from emails to police reports, makes it clear that the R34 million claim is entirely fabricated. If fraud were truly occurring, platforms would have removed listings, but I continued to operate under the same profile throughout 2021 and 2022. Only after my arrest was the account paused.
The Start of The Weaponization of My Nationality
Additionally, to pursuing and corralling guests with grievances into one group, using them as ammunition in her campaign to ruin me, in February 2023, Paula Disberry and PVW stole my passport and retained it illegally to specifically compromise my visa and immigration status.
State Aided Passport Theft & Visa Interference
Paula Disberry passed it to Wouter de Swardt, who, in turn, passed it to his associate, Sergeant Duna. Who had it in his possession while at the same time trying to misrepresent to the prosecution and magistrate that I was in SA illegally and as a result of some intentional efforts with nefarious motives to avoid applying for an extension, despite there being no benefit to me in doing so.
FACT FILE
PASSPORT THEFT & VISA INTERFERENCE
My passport was unlawfully handed over by Paula Disberry to Wouter de Swardt, who then passed it to his associate, Sergeant Duna. While in Duna’s possession, it was used to falsely claim to the prosecution and magistrate that I was in South Africa illegally. This deliberate misrepresentation attempted to portray me as having nefariously avoided applying for a visa extension—despite there being no logical benefit to such an action. This was yet another tactic to manipulate legal proceedings and justify my continued persecution.
The Mastermind and The Campaign
We estimate it was June 2022 when the consortium via Keith Broad hired the private investigator Wouter de Swardt. This was a game-changer. He was hired to coordinate the campaign, and his willingness to break any laws, as well as crucially his connections in SAPS, allowed him to do so with impunity. Enlisting their help as and when needed. Effectively weaponizing the state against me.
Centralizing control of the campaign against me, Wouter de Swardt’s strategy involved combining civil legal proceedings with extensive criminality, industrial-scale perjury, fabrication, and manipulation. He used his corrupt contacts in SAPS and elsewhere to hijack the state's power and punishment regime, using his corrupt contacts to get the criminal justice system to do the hard work.
The Gear Change in That Campaign
On July 22, 2022, Wouter de Swardt and eight security personnel working for Fox Forensics, (at the time, a registered Psira member and supposedly professional private investigator) forced their way onto the property at 16 Leirmans Road. They were, in fact, “thugs for hire,” criminal (allegedly armed) thugs who were led by Wouter de Swardt, masquerading as professional security personnel.
That attempt proved unsuccessful as the guests in occupation were not persuaded to leave, nor were they fooled by the lies told to force them to do so.
They made a second attempt on 24 July 2022. This time, it was successful. Forcing their way into the property, beating up the housekeepers, throwing them out, and squatting.
During this, a SAPS officer from Hout Bay turned up. Conspicuous by the fact that the police had stayed away as instructed by Wouter de Swardt, this random visitor was not random at all. He sat down with OS and Wouter de Swardt and played the role of a knowledgeable and experienced police officer who provided impartial legal advice. Knowing full well that the advice he was giving as to where the law lay was entirely false. Telling OS that the fact I had paid the rent in full and on time every month for 9 months despite extraordinary provocation and multiple breaches of the lease by the landlord was irrelevant; if OS could not produce a receipt for the rent for that month in fact one up to and including that day then Wouter de Swardt and the thugs had every legal right to “fuck him out of there.”
Knowing full well a court order would be required. There was absolutely no prospect of one and knowing full well Wouter de Swardt and the thugs/security personnel were trespassing, there illegally and should have been removed by the police, he told OS the law gave Wouter de Swardt every right to be there and that as a SAPS officer he could only remove them if such a receipt was produced.
I launched urgent spoliation proceedings in the High Court to have Wouter de Swardt, the thugs, and Keith Broad evicted, along with an application for an interdict as well as punitive costs. The loser would need to find R250,000+ in legal fees.
The court date was set for the 4th of August 2022.
To derail and/or counter this, on 1st August, Wouter de Swardt and Keith Broad laid what they knew to be an entirely false charge: one of “breaking and entering” and “theft.”
It is palpably absurd to lay a charge against a tenant for “breaking and entering” their own home. And it was demonstrably untrue to lay a charge of theft which was initially of three TVs when the owner knew that having had these very old, very cheap TVs stolen by a former guest, I had replaced all three with brand new high-end TVs.
(The charge was later changed to the contents of a back room when the owner knew the items in question were moved to safe storage with the knowledge of Keith Broad, whom I had also put on the lease and with full rights of access).
This began a manhunt undertaken by their friends at Hout Bay police station that was akin to a murder hunt.
Two officers attended all of my property’s multiple times. Not giving names, numbers, rank, crime reference numbers, or even what the matter involved, saying only “tell Russell to come to Hout Bay police station.”
We suspect but cannot prove that had I done so, the private meeting would have been an opportunity to give me an ultimatum, cancel the court proceedings, and relinquish the house or else.
FACT FILE
GEAR CHANGE
On July 24, they succeeded, evicting housekeepers and squatting. A SAPS officer from Hout Bay gave false legal advice to support their actions, claiming a receipt was required to prove rent was paid.
To counter this, I launched spoliation proceedings in the High Court, with a court date set for August 4, 2022. On August 1, de Swardt and Broad falsely accused me of “breaking and entering” and “theft,” triggering a manhunt by Hout Bay police. We suspect this was an attempt to intimidate me into canceling the court proceedings.
Perjury And the Protection Order
In addition to the above, on 29 July 2022, they anticipated losing when and if the matter was heard at the High Court. Wouter de Swardt, Keith Broad, and Inge Broad submitted their masterclass in perjury when they got a protection order by telling the court that it was, in fact, Keith Broad who was in occupation that day of 24 July and that Wouter de Swardt’s eight thugs were, in fact, my “henchmen” sent to intimidate Keith Broad and his family in their family home.
Their signed statement and affidavit to the court in those proceedings directly contradict their signed statements and affidavit in the spoliation proceedings.
The First Illegal Arrest
By coincidence, I was in Pringle Bay on a much-needed two-day break. The portfolio manager CA organized it as all the villas were fully booked, and I had not taken a day off in the last year.
I returned to Cape Town on August 3, staying the night in an Airbnb due to the portfolio's full occupancy and assuming the opportunity to remove me before the August hearing had passed. The Private Investigator illegally pinged my phone on the morning of August 4. Precisely as the two sides' attorneys were entering the High Court, I was arrested. It was too late to halt the hearing, but it was not too late to move on with the rest of the plan.
The arrest itself was illegal. There was no warrant or attempt to get one, as the grounds were entirely false.
I called central Cape Town SAPS to assist and protect me from Wouter de Swardt and the corrupt officers who were busy trying to break in.
Wouter de Swardt and the Investigating Officer would later mispresent to the court during the bail applications that I tried to “resist arrest.” As the magistrate pointed out, one does not tend to call the police if one is trying to evade arrest.
I was taken to Hout Bay police station, where they tried to deny me various rights, such as making a phone call. And kept me there for five days.
The arrest itself was only the first part of the plan. The other part was to frustrate the bail application by whatever means with the explicit intention of extending the period of remand for as long as possible.
They used false answers on bail assessment forms, false affidavits, and altered items to make bail more difficult.
Including suddenly changing the items that were stolen and inflating the value of the goods before the bail hearing. Goods that had no value before or just after the arrest were suddenly given a value of R835,000. Done to put the offence into Schedule 5, alongside rape and murder. To make the bail nearly impossible to achieve.
Wouter de Swardt and his clients also moved quickly while I was incarcerated, securing properties, and executing illegal evictions.
FACT FILE
THE ILLEGAL ARREST
On August 4, 2022, just as attorneys were entering the High Court for a crucial hearing, a private investigator illegally tracked my phone, leading to my immediate arrest. There was no warrant, and the charges were entirely fabricated.
Despite calling Cape Town SAPS for protection, I was detained at Hout Bay police station, where my rights were violated, including denial of a phone call. The arrest was part of a broader plan to delay my bail application and prolong my incarceration.
The alleged stolen goods were suddenly valued at R835,000 to escalate the charges to Schedule 5, making bail nearly impossible. Meanwhile, Wouter de Swardt and his associates used my detention to seize properties and carry out unlawful evictions.
Landmark Judgement
In the High Court Spoliation Application, I won a resounding victory. The judgment is now considered a landmark case, clearly establishing a tenant's rights in various situations.
I was awarded full possession, and the court confirmed my sole right of occupation. An eviction order was issued requiring Wouter de Swardt, Keith Broad, and the thugs to vacate and return possession to me. Further, an interdict was issued by the High Court barring Keith Broad and anyone known to him from going near the property. Another sign of the court’s displeasure was that I was awarded costs on a punitive basis.
Ongoing Struggles and Final Outcome
The plan had not gone as Wouter de Swardt had wanted. The intention had been to wrestle control of the properties from me and have me removed both as an opponent tenant and ideally from the picture altogether. Ensuring the property grab could be consolidated and leave no means or opportunity to reverse it.
However, the arrest came too late to stop proceedings, and those proceedings had resulted in the High Court confirming my position in every sense.
The Protection Order obtained via blatant perjury prohibited me or my staff from going within 500 meters of my own property.
So, the victory, while resounding and vindicating, was hollow.
I would pay an enormous price to stand up to Wouter de Swardt and the consortium. It would be four months from the illegal eviction before I was able to set foot back in 16 Leirmans Road. And then only for three weeks (while I invested more time and money bringing it back to life after Wouter de Swardt, Keith Broad, and his thugs had left it wrecked), only to have it taken from me a second time as a result of the illegal arrest and the secret, illegal, unofficial arrest, raid, and illegal eviction that took place in the shadow of the central arrest.
I would never again have the opportunity to welcome guests there. Instead, it was turned into an evil experiment by Wouter de Swardt as the set for a show where he was the director, producer, and puppet master.
FACT FILE
THE STRUGGLES & OUTCOME
Despite the High Court ruling in my favor, Wouter de Swardt’s strategy continued. A protection order—obtained through blatant perjury—barred me from my own property, rendering my legal victory effectively meaningless.
It took four months before I could return to 16 Leirmans Road, only to find it wrecked. After briefly restoring it, another illegal arrest and a secretive eviction ensured I was permanently removed. What was once a thriving guest property was transformed into a twisted stage for Wouter de Swardt’s control, reinforcing the extent of corruption and lawlessness that enabled this entire ordeal.
The Consortium’s Methods
New directions, and attacking revenue and reputation simultaneously.
They used a series of lies to create distrust and fear, including false information about my identity and false allegations about fraudulent activities:
I was wanted by Interpol.
I fled the UK.
I fled the UK because I was being pursued by UK police.
I am wanted in various countries for various scams.
I had amassed my fortune through various sham businesses.
I had millions on deposit in secret bank accounts.
I was being investigated for major international frauds.
My art collection was stolen.
Anyone associated with me would also be arrested and prosecuted.
I operated an intricate villa scam.
Advertising villas that did not exist or were not mine.
Taking double, triple, and quadruple bookings on each of them.
A scam that necessitated secret duplicate and triplicate profiles of properties.
From which I would siphon money to some of these secret accounts.
They threatened those they interviewed with 10 to 30 years in prison if they failed to cooperate and immunity if they did.
Both real officers pretending to have powers they did not and civilians impersonating officers who do.
By “cooperation,” they meant signing witness statements written for them and giving evidence based on the scripts provided. Depending on the “witness” and how they were assessed, using threats, bribery, or blackmail.
And yet, the best they could muster was a disgruntled ex-boyfriend with very real and serious mental health issues who they had to blackmail and bribe, and a former PA and best friend of Paula Disberry and her PA MM. and even then, not one single actual instance of fraud.
They focused considerable effort and resources on C.A., who ran the portfolio through her agency, The Hubb. Targeted by the same people and with the same lies and threats. Despite these tactics, C.A. refused to lie. And she made it clear she neither saw nor was party to anything fraudulent. They threatened her so much that after being harassed, in particular by Wouter de Swardt, Paula Disberry, and PVW, she instructed an attorney. Who sent formal letters telling them he would report their criminality, they continued. Only then did they stop.
FACT FILE
THE LANDMARK JUDGEMENT
The High Court Spoliation Application resulted in a landmark victory for tenant rights. The court confirmed my sole right of occupation, ordering the immediate eviction of Wouter de Swardt, Keith Broad, and their enforcers. An interdict barred Broad and his associates from the property, and punitive costs were awarded against them, highlighting the severity of their unlawful actions.
Use Of The Media And The Role Of News24
News24 has printed a number of articles since the August arrest. It would be fair to say that any reading of these articles leaves the reader in no doubt that the content is factual, and that I am some international criminal of note—one who has scammed at least thirty-four million in the last year alone.
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21 Aug 2022 Brit stuck over 'cheat your rent, cheat you there... Analysis of the Story.
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23 August Briton who allegedly defrauded people with accommodation... Analysis of the Story.
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17 Dec 2022 Brit arrested again after bail of R30 000 for the same rental scam... Analysis of the Story.
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02 Feb 2023 The case was adjourned against Briton, who rents and re-lets houses... Analysis of the Story.
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The most extreme was the January 14 article. However, once analysed and each sentence cross-referenced with the facts, the article in its entirety was shown to be wholly false. And fundamentally so.
All are character assassinations with no effort or pretence of giving both sides of the story or attempting impartial reporting.
A cursory reference is made to having tried to contact me. Interestingly, they made just one attempt in the period 2022 and 2023, and that was when I was in Pollsmoor. Contacting the wrong attorney and seeking a comment. No attempt has ever been made to speak with me before or after the first arrest, or during the period on bail, or after the period on bail, before the second arrest, during the three months in Pollsmoor, or at any time in the ten months since.
The content of the articles is so fundamentally false that it would imply they were either duped or complicit in the false reporting.
We can say with confidence that these articles were not the result of a journalist coming to or stumbling upon the story. Instead, Wouter de Swardt took it and presented it to them. Either way, there seems to be little or no independent research or journalism of any kind.
The articles are, at best, intellectually lazy, journalistically devoid of any merit, and negligent of formal and informal codes of conduct. At worst, they present a complicit and conspiratorial intentional effort to discredit, providing the campaign with one of its biggest coups and most effective acts to date.
Unsure whether they were duped or complicit and hoping it was the former, I wrote to the publication in September 2023. The approach was to engage News24 in dialogue on the naïve assumption that an established news platform would want to hear the facts. Facts that so clearly demonstrated what they had printed was entirely false. But they rejected that approach.
Even more curious, the excuse given for not doing so was that they could not engage in stories that related to live cases or cases where there were charges. However, at the time of my writing, there were no charges. While at the time of publishing the articles in August 2022, as well as December, January, and February 2023, there were charges and court cases pending.
Defamation Intended To Cause Maximum Harm
The widespread use of stories they invented with the specific goal of causing as much damage as possible to me. As well as aiding Wouter de Swardt and his clients when conducting illegal arrests and evictions and assisting in civil proceedings and criminal proceedings. And in sabotaging bail applications. As well as in giving legitimacy to the claim of a scam and, in particular, the post-arrest plan to create hundreds of victims and blame me.
In addition, it is used as wide-scale coverage in the media and online to encourage people to come forward. Not one did.
It is also interesting to note that News24 has failed to report either the withdrawal of the theft charges of August or the withdrawal of the five fraud charges before the start of the bail application, nor the manoeuvring of the Investigating Officer to delay matters or the fact that none of the things he used to delay matters were ever heard of again. Nor have they reported the withdrawal of the immigration charge or the representations. In fact, they have reported nothing since that would in any way counter their articles.
So, multiple entirely negative articles, published at a point when the news was the gravest and most damaging for me, and yet nothing on the incredibly significant and directly related news of the many things that could be in any way positive for me.
How can they pretend this was balanced or responsible journalism when they so publicly defamed me with an exceptionally long list of allegations and failed to mention the withdrawals? And then rebuffed my approaches with demonstrably false replies. This and their reply would suggest something far more sinister than simply being duped.
FACT FILE
THE MEDIA
Since the August 2022 arrest, News24 has published multiple articles portraying me as an international criminal, falsely alleging I defrauded at least R34 million. These reports offered no impartiality, no attempt to present both sides, and no meaningful effort to contact me—except for a single instance while I was in Pollsmoor Prison, where they reached out to the wrong attorney.
Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction
This complexity and volume, even for the most adept liar with an extraordinary memory. By my own admission, my memory is, in general, very poor. Yet not one contradictory or confused remark. And my statements and predictions repeatedly proved correct.
Any investigation into my claims has validated my version. The consortium, on the other hand, makes sweeping statements. Statements that change to suit a shifting landscape. And they promise evidence. Evidence that never comes.
Disguising this abject failure with references to things being “secret.” Secret bank accounts, secret online adverts, secret profiles, secret channels to siphon or launder money, secret bookings, secret victims, secret suitcases of diamonds and cash. Secret meaning, they found not one shred of evidence in a world where almost every action leaves a footprint. And one man was supposed to be doing all this and managing to keep it a secret while managing six residences and all the work that generated.
The consortium contacted the journalist, hoping to repeat their success with News24. She called me for my comments, and a very long conversation took place. At speed, I went through some of what had happened. Having not had such a conversation before, what would have required considerable rehearsal flowed freely, giving an honest account.
I have taken the same approach throughout. Sharing large swathes of information, none of it vetted or edited, giving access to multiple Google Drive folders, answering emails, messages, and calls, giving three interviews to date, and remaining open to any further questions or interviews. The policy is one of full disclosure so the journalist can reach her own conclusion.
Including the motives of those involved and the veracity of their statements and so-called evidence.
Relying on the journalist’s integrity to ensure the final production is a fair representation of what really happened. Separating the wild claims from the facts.
However, it is hard to see how the production can be fair if the only interviews are with the consortium, those associated with it, and those with axes to grind, scores to settle, jealousy to assuage, and lies that need validating.
People such as LRV, OS, HK, LH, JS, AM, have not been interviewed but are key to providing balance. Perhaps that is still to come.
And do many of those enlisted know they were lied to?
FACT FILE
STRANGER THAN FICTION
For three years, my account has remained consistent and factually supported, while the consortium’s claims have constantly shifted to fit new narratives—promising evidence that never materializes. Their allegations rely on vague references to “secret” accounts, transactions, and victims, yet no proof has ever been found in a world where almost every action leaves a footprint.
The Attorney’s Hollow Promise
My property management business was destroyed after my first arrest and during my detention, resulting in the loss of three residences, millions of Rand in bookings, and a decimation of the lettings and management operations.
The arrest and bail application revealed that Wouter de Swardt and his clients were prepared to use arrest and detention as a strategy to achieve their goals.
Something I was eager to draw my attorney’s attention to and explicitly made clear on the day I was granted bail and continuously thereafter.
The reply from my attorneys was, “We will deal with that if and when it happens.”
While I made clear I absolutely disagreed with the strategy of waiting for an attack, I had at least hoped they would keep this promise should anything happen.
In the formal complaint from me to my attorneys about their conduct and malpractice, I stated, “Rather than deal with it when it happened, my attorneys became the best weapon the consortium ever knew they had.”
The Fatal Role Of MB
The introduction of MB into the mix proved a catastrophic mistake. Trusted implicitly, it would be weeks before there were any doubts about his activities and motives, and by then, it was far too late.
As with others before him, MB was handed control of the portfolio. For a number of reasons:
To ensure compliance with visa regulations.
So that the day-to-day tasks such as advertising, enquiries, platform management, channel management, bookings, deposits, banking, check-in and check-outs, refunds, accounting, guest experience, etc., could be managed externally and professionally.
To keep all aspects of the business at arm’s length, conscious any mistake would be seized upon and manipulated to misrepresent some nefarious motive.
To depersonalize matters, having already had the experience of how a business run as a Pty was turned into a very personal campaign, misrepresenting me as benefiting personally. Whereas in reality, every cent went to the business (i.e., portfolio and staff), not a cent in profit was taken out by the directors/proprietor, and where I had invested and eventually lost my life savings.
Conscious Wouter de Swardt and the consortium were plotting a second arrest and much else.
That half of the original portfolio remaining was still their target.
That Paula Disberry, PVW, Wouter de Swardt, Keith Broad, and Inge Broad had been and would continue their attacks on the business, including through social media and the platforms.
And even were these not a factor, my preference had always been to focus on the creative side of the portfolio.
Although, as the only periods of stability and profitability had been those where I had had ultimate control and the only periods where no damage was caused were those where I and control of the bank accounts were in unison, on reflection the sabotaging of the visa was far more powerful than first envisaged.
FACT FILE
COST OF TRUSTING MB
Entrusting MB with control of the portfolio proved disastrous. Initially trusted without question, his true motives became clear only when it was too late. The decision was made to ensure visa compliance, streamline operations, and distance personal involvement to prevent misrepresentation. However, this move left the business vulnerable.
Essential Delegation
Even though I was confident others would not put in the effort and hours needed to make the most of the portfolio’s attention to detail, or care as much about the collection or guest experience as I did, I resolved to always contract out all day-to-day functions. At least until a more permanent form of residency was granted. A decision that ultimately helped lose me the portfolio, resulted in very mixed results in terms of bookings and multiple attempts to not just ride the gravy train but empty every carriage on that train, including misappropriation of funds, fraudulent invoices and deductions, wild expenses, and petty cash deductions, and ultimately MB’s embezzlement.
During 2022, I managed the portfolio only in March after the then agent Gail Broad misappropriated funds and submitted and paid fraudulent invoices that resulted in our acrimonious split and then for less than a month after MB’s sudden departure. In both cases finding the portfolio thrust upon me.
The question has to be asked, what scammer in their right mind consistently seeks to and does pass their portfolio, including full autonomy over to others?
Mario was not backward in coming forward, nor was he modest with his immodesty. Telling me of the perfect fit he and the position would make and how his skill set suited him perfectly.
I had only known MB in a social capacity from 5 years prior and had no reason to doubt him. MB was honest about his mental health in that he faced extreme challenges and seemed earnest when telling the story of a tabloid-style news program that focused on salacious gossip and hack journalism, that had done a hatchet job on him airing a program about his wedding scam business when MB was very clear he had only had issues with a couple of brides, and the whole thing was slanderous nonsense. Blaming everyone from his psychiatrist to his ex-boyfriend. I had never seen the program or even heard of Carte Blanche, so I accepted MB’s convincing version.
Only later did I discover that Carte Blanche is a well-respected program specializing in investigative journalism and one that researches its subjects thoroughly. They would not have aired a program about just two unhappy customers.
MB was keen to gloat at how he had expunged the internet using his skills and paying specialists for all traces of the program and was confident it would never be seen or found again.
Much else was to come to light later on, including MB’s two dozen bank accounts across half a dozen banks, Ptys and LTD companies set up in half a dozen countries, the truth about the wedding scam and the number of people who had been scammed in various ways by MB.
The brief was simple, although by no means easy. Select a channel manager to sync diaries across all platforms, reestablish the profiles, ascertain what bookings remain, arrange refunds where due, set up the letting and management operations and so on.
More detail can be found in the MB/ESS chronology document where needed.
In August 2022, after leaving Pollsmoor, I returned to a wasteland. The staff had been chased and frightened away by the consortium aided by their friends in SAPS, including the usual lies.
COSTLY DELEGATION
To comply with visa regulations and maintain professional operations, I outsourced daily management of the portfolio. However, this decision led to embezzlement, fraudulent invoices, and financial mismanagement, ultimately contributing to the portfolio’s collapse.
PORTFOLIO RUINS
Upon my release from Pollsmoor in August 2022, I returned to a business in shambles—staff had been intimidated into leaving, operations had collapsed, and the damage was irreparable.
TRUSTING MB
Despite only knowing MB socially for five years, I entrusted him with full control, believing his claims of expertise. He had previously been the subject of a Carte Blanche exposé on a wedding scam, which he insisted was false. Only later did I learn that Carte Blanche is a respected investigative program and that MB had an extensive history of deception, including two dozen bank accounts across multiple countries.
Unknown Motivation
It is impossible to say whether MB started with genuine intentions and then changed course or joined, sensing an opportunity for another of his cons. If the former, it is hard to say with any certainty at which point his motives changed, and he began working illegally and solely in his interest.
We do know the timelines: He started at the beginning of September. Things started well with MB's autonomously run agency being formed to let and manage the (now diminished but still highly profitable) portfolio.
Channel managers were appointed, diary systems were set up, and bank accounts and profiles were set up—all in MB's name. MB assured me this was merely procedural and temporary.
It was MB who suggested hiring a private investigation company (E.S.S) a) to prove there was no scam in operation, b) investigate the consortium and their criminality and expose their lies, and c) protect me from physical attacks by supplying a bodyguard. Despite pretending to do so and taking large sums from me for doing so, they did the very opposite of all three.
Again, we do not know if it was part of MB's original or subsequent plan or whether ESS started with a genuine intent and switched sides. But Paula Disberry and Wouter de Swardt were already well ahead of me. We assume on ESS’s first visit to see Paula Disberry and PVW, Paula Disberry persuaded ESS to work for them while continuing to pretend to work for me. There is speculation about who muted the idea first, as it was thought strange that they had not arranged a meeting.
Paula Disberry and PVW also created an incentive to convince and motivate ESS and others to get involved and choose sides. They told them a well-rehearsed and well-used lie: There were secret bank accounts in secret locations with millions in deposits. They were clearly held out the prospect of sharing in the bounty when I was imprisoned, and accounts were identified.
FACT FILE
UNKNON MOTIVATION
Whether MB’s intentions were genuine or opportunistic remains unclear. Starting in September, he took full control of the portfolio, registering all bank accounts and profiles in his name, claiming it was temporary. MB suggested hiring E.S.S to disprove scam allegations and provide protection, but they instead worked against me. After meeting Paula Disberry and PVW, they were fed the lie that I had secret bank accounts with millions. Believing they would share in this non-existent fortune, they switched sides and became part of the attack.
The Unholy Alliance
ESS allied with Wouter de Swardt, Paula Disberry, Keith Broad, Inge Broad, and PVW, benefiting from the protections, immunities, corruption, and influence. The unhealthy relationship between Wouter de Swardt and several SAPS officers meant the only person likely to be investigated and charged was me. The influence of the corrupt SAPS officers, who in turn persuaded others within SAPS.
Control and/or influence of local police stations denied any route for complaint or criminal conduct investigation. The consortium had substantial reserves to attack me and deflect attention.
The Petition
The success of the prevailing narrative created by Wouter de Swardt, Keith Broad, Paula Disberry, and those who collaborated with her or followed her, provided a ready-made basis for further expansion.
Several newspaper articles, fed by Wouter de Swardt to ruin me and establish the lies about me running a sham villa business, were published between August and February.
The aim was to create the impression of a weight of evidence that comes from various and independent sources. In reality, the sources were all the same.
To assist and play his part, MB published a petition that included and referred to these articles as if they were facts. The petition purported to be aimed at "stopping the scammer." It was drafted and published simultaneously by MB, JS, DD, et al.
At the same time, they were busy creating a scam and sham villa enterprise. A scam that was constructed in the very image of what I was being accused of.
The petition and other diversionary tactics were premeditated attempts to escape blame. When guests found out MB and ESS had scammed them, they would have the articles, the petition, etc., to point to and underpin the accusations that I had scammed them. After all, the bookings were being taken on my property. What better way to run a scam than to set it up on the properties of the person already publicly accused of running such a scam business from precisely the same properties? Who would not swallow a lie with so many reference points the guest could be directed towards?
Despite signals and evidence suggesting there were no hidden accounts and no backup or reserve funds, MB and ESS persisted with their plan.
FACT FILE
THE PETTITION
Wouter de Swardt, Keith Broad, and their collaborators spread false claims through planted articles. MB reinforced the deception with a petition, framing me while secretly running a real scam. This premeditated diversion helped them shift blame when guests uncovered their scam. Despite clear evidence disproving their claims, MB and ESS continued their deception.
The Embezzlement
The precise point when MB began working for and with ESS and against me is uncertain. We estimate very early October, if not immediately and possibly even before their formal appointment. What is certain is that they embezzled circa a million Rand, in a plan MB later confessed to, whereby any and all money coming in (from deposits or rent) was transferred immediately to ESS.
Having been embezzling for around three weeks, they suddenly left. It was not until they left that I discovered what they had been doing.
Before that, whenever I asked if there was any money, MB replied with comments on the account balance. Craftily answering the question factually, saying “there is nothing in the account,” MB omitted that X thousand or X hundred thousand had been received but immediately sent to ESS.
ESS would later try to justify the transfers as payment of fees. Still, as fees had been agreed at R200k, to be paid as it could be afforded and factoring in the many other important obligations, many of which were far more critical and of greater priority, the fact that hundreds of thousands were transferred in just 2-3 weeks, with nothing put aside towards rent, utilities, repairs, and wages, shows this for the lie that it is.
The Bodyguard: As Useful as A Chocolate Fireguard
In reality, if they had switched sides, as we know they did, and worked for the consortium, they would have been due absolutely no fees whatsoever.
ESS had the nerve to charge me for a “bodyguard” to protect me from Wouter de Swardt and the consortium, who was doing nothing of the sort and, in fact, working for the consortium. ESS searched my office and accessed my laptop whenever I was away from the office or bedroom.
It was the bodyguard, ADR, who had taken my passport from me after the sabotaged appointment at the VFS lounge to extend my visa to hand to ESS and Wouter de Swardt and onto Paula Disberry and PVW.
The bodyguard planted the listening devices and reported to the ESS/consortium daily.
It was the bodyguard who was vital in using the various plans, including their plans to drug, torture, and murder me.
If on the other hand their client was Mario then, the same would apply in that they did nothing to protect his interests or undertake an investigation as contracted.
And if the client was Mario’s, then they were telling him to transfer money to them they knew did not belong to him, knew was from guest payments, knew those payments were for stays at the property, and knew that when their embezzlement was discovered those guests would not get their stays regardless.
Just as they knew that diverting the payment to them would result in the collapse of the portfolio, resulting in no property for those guests to stay at.
However, they may try to cover their crimes after the fact, nothing changes that fundamental dynamic. Who was the client? Me, MB, Wouter de Swardt, or Paula Disberry? As private investigators, there can only be one client. And only one client it is legal to take money from. And when they decide who the client was (as that changes with who asks them) they would need to justify taking money pre-pressuring others to pay them money.
FACT FILE
THE BODYGUARD
ESS charged me for a "bodyguard" who, instead of protecting me, worked for the consortium. He searched my office, accessed my laptop, planted listening devices, and reported to ESS daily. He even took my passport and handed it to ESS, Wouter de Swardt, Paula Disberry, and PVW. Worse, he played a key role in plans to drug, torture, and murder me.
The Confession
MB returned three days later to “confess” his role and produce evidence supporting his confession. Essentially, they had a particular plan to embezzle R1.2 million in three weeks and then leave on what they called “exit day.”
Although MB justified his crucial role by saying he was pressured into it with a mixture of threats, incentives, and the promise to keep him from prison, which should he refuse, he claimed he was told was a certainty.
However, rather than a return to confess and make amends, it appears to have been a cynical ploy to get a second bite of the cherry.
Confession videos:
One thing I had learned from MB was his obsession with recording everything. I was so shocked by the revelations that I secretly recorded many of them.
Initially, because the confessions were so extreme, I doubted anyone would believe MB or me in the retelling. However, as the days progressed, I doubted MB’s justification for his role.
The Scammers Scam
After leaving, with some sinister irony, they went on to construct a scam operation in the image of what the consortium had accused me of, whereby they advertised properties they did not have or have any right to let (choosing to promote my properties without my permission), with no intention or ability to ever deliver on any of the bookings. As soon as I discovered the scam, attorney LH sent an email demanding they cease. Despite the demands that they stop, they continued taking hundreds of thousands and possibly millions in bookings, knowing that they could never honour them.
When guests began to discover what had happened as planned, they blamed me.
On discovering this, I reported the fraud to MB's various banks. We believe the accounts were frozen but are unaware of how matters progressed after that.
FACT FILE
THE SCAMMERS SCAM
After leaving, they created a scam operation, promoting my properties without permission and advertising non-existent ones. Despite attorney LH's demand to cease, they continued taking hundreds of thousands, knowing they couldn’t honor the bookings. When guests discovered the scam, they blamed me. I reported the fraud to MB's banks, and while we believe the accounts were frozen, we are unsure of the outcome
Smoke & Mirrors
As an indication of how well they had considered their actions and plans, they had already planned what they would do when discovered.
Discovery was an inevitability. One of the fundamental flaws in the scam narrative was that a villa scam can only last as long as it takes for the first guest to realise they have been scammed. Whether that be when the first guest turns up to check in and finds they have no villa or is alerted in any way beforehand. Where a scammer is booking stays with the first starting a year into the future, they could have a year to continue scamming. Although unlikely, as those guests booking would soon smell a rat. But where bookings are for stays that begin in a month or two, that period very quickly passes, and they are faced with their first check-in and thereby discovery.
Discovery results in the platforms being pulled down, bank investigations, credit card investigations, account freezes, etc.
To help deflect attention from them and in a cynical but clever ploy to be able to obviate responsibility, they would point guests whom they had defrauded in my direction. The backdrop had already been put in place. MB had established the online petition to “stop the scammer,” accusing me of everything they were busy doing. Wouter de Swardt had fed pages of false information to the press, and News24 had obliged with several incredibly damning articles. They left the reader with no doubt that I was an international criminal of note whose speciality was villa scams and who had earned R34 million from such villa scams.
When guests began to discover MB, ESS had defrauded them; this is precisely what they did: They told the guests that I had their money, pointed at the petition and the News24 articles, and told the guests that they stood no chance of recovery. All so that they could maintain the scam longer, and they hoped to get away with it.
If I could be imprisoned and charged with fraud, that could only enhance their diversionary tactics. What better way to deflect scammed guests than by pointing to the scammer in prison on fraud charges for scamming guests? Pushing them to give up on recovery.
If my bail application failed and I could be kept in Pollsmoor indefinitely, my funds exhausted, they would likely get away with it entirely.
This was also the logic of the murder conspiracy. After all, if the scammer vanished, it would be easy to spread the rumour that he had run away to spend his R34 million: no body, no murder investigation, no one to mourn or miss the scammer.
Not content with either the embezzlement or the scam cloned from the myth, MB then applied for a protection order. The application form reads like the fantasy of a deranged man. Again, attempting to rewrite history to cover their tracks.
On Her Majesty’s Service
As a result of the campaign, the corruption, the abysmal performance by my attorneys, the David and Goliath odds, and the fact that I knew they were far from finished, I approached the British Embassy for assistance.
They offered assistance in various ways, including an emergency passport replacement. However, I declined that offer as I wished to extend my visa rather than leave SA.
FACT FILE
SMOKE & MIRRORS
The scam was designed with a clear exit strategy. They knew discovery was inevitable, as a villa scam can only last until the first guest realizes they've been defrauded. When this happened, they deflected blame onto me, using the petition and false media coverage to back their lies. They told guests I had their money, pointing to fabricated claims of international criminality, and hoped this would divert attention long enough for them to escape justice.
Drugging, Torture & Murder
Throughout the period between arrests, Paula Disberry, PVW, Wouter de Swardt, MB, etc., and later, RM constantly interfered with the operation, using ESS to access information, poach guests, and dissuade others from turning up or cancelling.
The plan hatched by JS and DD of ESS alongside MB and ADR involved drugging me with sleeping pills and transferring the contents of my bank accounts to themselves using the OTPs sent to my phone. However, the plan had flaws, such as identifying which accounts were held first, where they were, the account numbers, and any related apps. Plus, the theft would be reported as soon as I woke up.
The plan was changed instead, opting to torture me to get all the necessary information and then murder me to prevent me from going to the police afterwards. Disposing of my body and putting MB in my place. JS and DD were very relaxed about their plan, reassuring MB they knew what to do and how to do it and had done it before.
Their new alliance gave them additional protection from investigation or prosecution.
Chance intervened, but they were unable to carry this out.
One of the many take-away moments for me is the relaxed way MB told and retold the story. When MB kept repeating how he had told ADR to stop going into the gruesome details of the plan, including the torture and murder, as it was making him feel nauseous, I asked if it was the detail he objected to as it was too graphic or the plan. The answer from MB was that it was the detail to which he had objected, not realizing just how much that comment revealed.
FACT FILE
DRUGGING, TORTURE & MURDER
During this time, Paula Disberry, PVW, Wouter de Swardt, MB, and RM constantly interfered with the operation, using ESS to access information, poach guests, and dissuade others. The initial plan was to drug me with sleeping pills, transfer my bank details using OTPs, and steal my money, but it had flaws. The plan then shifted to torturing me for information before murdering me to prevent police involvement, with MB taking my place. Luckily, fate intervened, but the chilling details of their plan and MB's relaxed recounting revealed much about their intent.
The Reasons For The Arrest And Its Timing
For various reasons, there was limited time and a closing window of opportunity to remove me effectively. Therefore, it was decided to execute an arrest.
The groundwork for the theft of the properties by the landlords and, thereby, the arrest necessary to make that possible had begun to be prepared very shortly after I got bail after the first arrest in August.
In October 2022, on the instructions of Wouter de Swardt and Keith Broad, Paula Disberry had laid a demonstrably false charge of “theft” and “malicious damage” so that when an arrest came, they could introduce other live dockets for current investigations and build the impression of a modus operandi. This charge came despite the meticulously arranged handover that included obtaining a list from the housekeeper of the Hove Road property prior to the end date of items that needed to be returned. I transferred the handwritten note into an excel table to classify all the items, establish if any were at any of the other villas, and where wear and tear issues arose. The list was worked on by me, the manager OS, the Hove Road housekeeper, and the 32 FB housekeeper. Identifying any items that had gotten moved around, returning every item, and then having the housekeeper of Hove Road spend a day at my home at the 32 FB property checking every room and confirming once concluded that everything was satisfactory. The housekeeper confirmed that the list had been fully concluded with one missing item that could not be recovered as it was at 16 LR, a fluffy lamp.
On my release from Pollsmoor in August 2022, I was so deeply shocked by the clear lack of limits to what the consortium would do that I asked my attorney to agree to the return of the properties despite having an extremely strong legal position to retain them. All I had asked in return was to be left alone. Paula Disberry took the opportunity although failed to honour the spirit or letter of that settlement agreement. The settlement agreement was a full and final settlement of all issues related to 12 HR. As such, I was under no obligation whatsoever to return any item or expend any time or money on the handover as the agreement closed on any and all issues related to the property. The housekeeper had confirmed there were no outstanding issues, no communication had been received from the owner Paula Disberry or her attorneys about any issues. The first I knew of this was a policeman at my front door wanting to ask questions about a charge laid for theft. I contacted my attorney and made it very clear that this was a prelude to preparation for and a clear warning of the plan to try arrest again as a tactic. The attorneys did nothing. Fortunately, I had the WhatsApp chats between the housekeeper and OS and between the housekeeper and myself, as well as the lists we worked on, and the various photos taken. The Investigating Officer said he would submit his report and revert to me but could see no validity to the charge. I chased a solution and the officer made three different calls over the coming weeks saying he would come back out to close the file.
The Investigating Officer said he would submit his report and revert to me but could see no validity to the charge. I chased a solution and the officer made three different calls over the coming weeks saying he would come back out to close the file. He never turned up for any of the appointments.
The purpose of the charge was to ensure there was a live and ongoing investigation. Something that would cause a bail application to be a serious challenge. And the reason for the lack of response and the missed appointments was that it was essential the docket and investigation remain open. Were they to be closed, they served no purpose.
This was not just a malicious prosecution but a malicious prosecution with a purpose.
The false theft charge docket from August was also purposely not closed. This was despite the visit to the storage unit by Inge Broad, her attorney, me, my attorney, and the IO. This was so that it could be presented at a future bail hearing as a live investigation, as well as add to the building of a modus operandi. To our knowledge, it still remains intentionally ‘current.’ Despite now being twenty-two months old, the bail application won, the unit was visited, and the case was thrown out.
The owner of 32 FB demanded meetings to discuss my plan “when” rather than “if” I could not pay the annual rent due on December 1. Leaving me in no uncertain terms as to his intentions and plans.
The new owners (friends of the then owner to whom he had sold the property) wanted to spend their annual holiday in Cape Town from mid-December to mid-March and had offered for him to stay at one of the owners’ other properties for the period or give him a rental holiday. As it was the busiest time of the year, I declined the request, as it would have been commercial suicide. But they continued to want to spend December, January, and February at the property.
The crucial hearing on 16 Leirmans Road, which was scheduled for June 2022 but that Keith Broad and Wouter de Swardt had postponed 6 months to November 2022 to allow them to try their illegal strategy, was heard. My property attorney successfully applied for the inclusion of oral evidence, resulting in a postponement of the hearing by six months. The judgement was issued on the 5th of December. Having failed to take the property in the six months between the original date of June and the delayed date of November, Keith Broad, Inge Broad and Wouter de Swardt were not prepared to wait another six months. Particularly as success was not guaranteed. If I took up occupation again, banked the revenue that would naturally come from the peak and summer season, paid the rent for my new period of occupation then it was also questionable this would prove successful. When the loss in the November hearing filtered through after 5 December, it became the catalyst for the instruction to arrest which followed a week later.
Because of the victory, I made it clear that losing it in the civil courts would result in an attack outside of the law so that Keith Broad could avoid any further delay.
The summer season, which starts in mid-December and runs through March, represents the largest portion of the year’s rent, and if I could be denied this, it would prove financially fatal.
The peak and seasons also represented the best chance for the consortium to create enough chaos, loss, and victims to advance their plans should the December arrest fail or result in a trial.
To facilitate the immediate sale of 16 Leirmans Road.
A 7-day notice was sent on December 5th, expiring on December 13th, demanding I vacate.
FACT FILE
THE CONSORTIUM
With the 7-day notice expiring and the new owners arriving, my removal became urgent. On December 14th, SAPS assisted in my arrest, using old civil disputes as justification. A legal eviction risked costly battles and restoring my possession, while a negotiated departure meant returning 1,700 items worth R4.2 million. Arresting me kept their hands clean, concealed their role, and damaged my reputation.
The December Arrest
The day was cast when the 7-day notice expired in mid-December, the soon-to-be owners arrived in mid-December wanting the entire property for their exclusive use, and the sale season was just a couple of weeks away. The arrest on December 14th was made possible with the assistance of SAPS, and old civil disputes were dug up to justify the arrest.
The owners knew that any illegal eviction would result in a rerun of the August hearing, including the restoration of possession to the tenant and an enormous legal bill and interdicts. Going through the civil courts would be too expensive, time-consuming, and highly likely to fail. An eviction or negotiated departure would also result in the removal of 1,700 items valued at R4.2 million, which would send the property back almost to its state when I took it on.
My arrest and detention were the only solutions to keep their hands clean and their involvement a secret. Further, the timing of the arrest and detention presented an opportunity for chaos and further damage to my reputation.
The Armed SWAT Team
I heard an enormous bang on the morning of 13 December 2022. Looking out of my fifth-floor office window, I saw multiple vehicles, including what looked like two large police personnel carriers. In one of the most surreal moments of the yearlong campaign, I slipped into what I describe as dual reality. Knowing what was happening, one part of me sat down at my desk, lighting a cigarette, and waiting for the inevitable. The other part in denial, messaging the housekeeper to ask what the bang was in the hope there was an explanation other than that which was unfolding.
Masked and armed SWAT team officers came from either end of the office or bedroom. One up the spiral staircase and one up the lift. The others went through the property, blowing door after door despite all being unlocked. I was told to get face down on the floor, hands tied. The special task force asked where the guns were, and I responded that there were no guns. “I have a self-defence mace spray gun in my handbag,” gesturing to the orange handbag by my desk.
The SWAT team seemed both confused and disappointed, as if expecting Pablo Escobar and a stash of submachine guns, instead getting a glorified water pistol in an interior designer’s handbag.
Several plain-clothed and uniformed officers joined shortly after the SWAT team confirmed they had secured their target. They were then joined by Wouter de Swardt walking into my bedroom, pointing, and laughing at me, and taking photos with his camera—like a tourist looking at an oddity at the circus.
FACT FILE
SWART TEAM
On the morning of December 13, 2022, a loud bang signaled the arrival of multiple vehicles, including two large police carriers. As a masked and armed SWAT team stormed in, breaking through unlocked doors, I sat at my desk, resigned to the inevitable. Ordered to the floor and tied, I told them the only “weapon” I had was a mace spray gun in my handbag. The team, expecting something far more sinister, seemed almost disappointed. Once the scene was secured, Wouter de Swardt entered, laughing and taking photos as if I were a spectacle.
The Suitcase of Black Diamonds & Cash
Combined, they tore my home apart. I noticed they were looking for something particular. When I inquired, I was firmly shut down. I noted that the police would go from drawer to drawer and room to room, leaving large swathes of paperwork and files untouched. If this were an arrest for fraud, all would have been taken. So, it was something else they were looking for. I suspected I knew.
My suspicions were confirmed when, to my shock, I came across Wouter de Swardt and DD in my bedroom as I was being taken from room to room to assist with the search.
(Or rather the Investigating Officer told me I needed to accompany them around the property through each room despite the housekeepers having already done that and the search winding down. The first room was taken to be the master bedroom, however, after I had been questioned by Wouter de Swardt and DD this supposed tour of the property ended and I was taken from the main house to the guest apartment. I later realised the reason for taking me to the bedroom was at the instruction of Wouter de Swardt so he could ask the location of the safe. There was no tour of the property intended.)
Wouter de Swardt was clearly in charge of the operation. DD asked, “Where is the safe?” My response was, “What safe?” DD replied: “The big one behind the secret door.” I realised they meant the vault at the Camps Bay villa, which had been handed back some months earlier. “You are a few months too late. That is at the Hove Road property.” The disappointment was evident. By now, the search was nearing its end and had yielded nothing.
The fact that they had to ask me demonstrated that they had found nothing and were getting desperate.
They had no suitcase of black diamonds or cash to share.
It is also a clear sign of what they were really looking for clearly was not paperwork or items related to fraud.
I was deeply shocked that Wouter de Swardt and DD were walking around my home as if they owned it. With the police deferring to their ‘authority.’ Most shocking was that one of the men standing in my bedroom, clearly enjoying my humiliation, was the man that just a few weeks earlier had stolen over a million rand from me, set up a scam agency defrauding people by using my properties and planning to torture, murder and replace me.
The other was a criminal Private Investigator who had somehow engineered an opposition of authority and relationship with and over some very senior police officers that allowed him to assume the role usually reserved for a Brigadier or commander. When in fact he was a civilian with no official powers of any kind.
FACT FILE
BLACK DIAMONDS & CASH
As my home was torn apart, it became clear they were searching for something specific, ignoring paperwork and files entirely. When I was taken to my bedroom under the guise of assisting with the search, I realized it was a setup, Wouter de Swardt and DD wanted to ask about the location of a safe. Their disappointment was obvious when I told them the vault had been at the Hove Road property, which had already been returned. Their questioning confirmed they had found nothing, no suitcase of black diamonds or cash. The most shocking part was seeing Wouter de Swardt and DD walking through my home as if they owned it, with police deferring to them, despite their own criminal history.
The Secret Operation
I only learned what had happened on the day of the arrest a couple of months after my release from Pollsmoor when the housekeeper of 16 Leirmans Road contacted me, feeling duty-bound, to let me know what happened. The conversation contained many revelations and revealed many missing pieces of the puzzle.
Avoiding too much detail for this document, the basics were:
On the morning of the arrest, those involved split into two. The main group of the Investigating Officer, Sergeant Stevens, the other officers from Bellville Commercial Crime, the Hout Bay SAPS officer, the Hawks officers, and the Special Task Force headed to Fisherman’s Bend, while a smaller contingent of SAPS officers friendly to Wouter de Swardt headed to 16 Leirmans Road, with Wouter de Swardt and DD.
Using the opportunity of the involvement of SAPS and the distraction of the arrest at 32 Fisherman's Bend, during which I was in no position to respond, and while the arrest and search were underway at 32 FB, Wouter de Swardt carried out an unofficial, secret, and highly illegal raid and arrest at 16 Leirmans Road.
Having tricked their way in, saying they were there on official police business, they arrested the housekeeper, searched the house to arrest OS, and were about to arrest OS’s girlfriend. However, they found out she was a European national and felt that could have implications.
The housekeeper was handcuffed. He and OS’s girlfriend were aggressively questioned about where OS was, and they told her to get him to come to the house. The girlfriend called his mobile, but he was at work and did not pick it up.
The girlfriend was told that she would not be arrested if she left immediately. The housekeeper was told to hand over the property keys and was taken to 32 Fisherman's Bend in handcuffs, where the official arrest was ongoing.
On the way there, Wouter de Swardt phoned Inge Broad (the owner of 16 Leirmans Road and wife of Keith Broad) to confirm they had successfully regained their property as instructed. He was heard saying, “We have got him; he won’t be coming back this time,” referring to me.
The arrest was secret, unofficial, and highly illegal. It had no arrest warrant and was executed as a private side-operation using the authorized arrest as a cover and distraction.
With me being the only official tenant of the property and now under arrest, soon to be on my way to Hout Bay police station cells and eventually to Pollsmoor, where the consortium would do their best to keep me, there was no one to worry about discovering their illegal actions or doing anything about it.
The circumstances were so dire that the illegal evictions were even worse than those in July. Spoliation proceedings would undoubtedly have succeeded. I very specifically asked my attorneys to commence spoliation proceedings, but this and other explicit instructions were ignored.
FACT FILE
SECRET OPERATION
I only learned months later that my arrest had been used as a cover for an illegal raid at 16 Leirmans Road, orchestrated by Wouter de Swardt and SAPS officers loyal to him. While the official operation took place at Fisherman’s Bend, a smaller group tricked their way into 16 Leirmans Road, handcuffed the housekeeper, and attempted to arrest OS and his girlfriend—stopping only when they realized she was a European national. Wouter de Swardt then called the property owner, confirming they had "got him" and that I wouldn't be coming back. With me in custody and unable to intervene, they executed an unauthorized eviction, which would have undoubtedly been overturned had my attorneys followed my instructions.
Magistrates Rejection of the Arrest Warrant
It was also discovered that they had requested an arrest warrant from one or more magistrates and had had that request declined. They then took it to another magistrate to get approval. We cannot comment on how they engineered this after the rejection(s), but based on their record, conclusions can be drawn.
The Hawks
It is not known whether the Hawks' involvement resulted from being duped by Wouter de Swardt and the Investigating Officer or whether it was his connections, including his brother, who is a senior-ranking Hawks officer.
I commented that the only officer(s) who demonstrated professionalism and competence were the Hawks officer(s). They stood out because they were professional, competent, intelligent, and courteous. In marked contrast to the SAPS officers. The Hawks officer who accompanied me to the car and onto Hout Bay SAPS station was the one who challenged the Investigating Officer when he purposely took me on an elongated route to the car to show me off to the cameras and who suggested a jacket be put over my head should I wish it. It is very possible they were duped, and their help abused likewise, senior SAPS officers outside of the core group may well have thought the arrest at 32 Fisherman's Bend entirely legitimate. Although no one could have thought what happened at 16 Leirmans Road that day was remotely legitimate.
FACT FILE
THE CONSORTIUM
It is unclear whether the Hawks' involvement was due to being misled by Wouter de Swardt and the Investigating Officer or if it was influenced by connections, including his brother, a senior-ranking officer, but the Hawks officers demonstrated professionalism and competence in contrast to others involved.
Obstruction Of Justice
The arrest, objection to bail, detention, and attempts to prolong imprisonment were motivated by the need to keep me incarcerated for as long as possible. Sergeant Stevens was obliging in producing many new and varied reasons for postponing the matter.
As mentioned, so much so that the Magistrate, out of frustration, gave the Investigating Officer an ultimatum: decide what I am being charged with by the 28th of March. Anything not listed would not be considered.
Also, giving my attorneys an ultimatum: Be ready to proceed by 9 February, or the bail application will be moved from the urgent roll.
Key Events Timeline
13th December: Arrest at 32 Fisherman's Bend. I was removed, and the keys and property were handed over to the owner. 16 Leirmans Road secret and illegal operation arrests and removes the housekeeper, keys are taken, and vacant possession handed to the owners.
15th/16th December: I was finally allowed to call my attorney, who promised to be at the bail hearing on Monday and sent an attorney the next day to obtain information from me.
19th December: First bail appearance. I was granted bail, set at R2000 and signed off by the magistrate. The prosecution suddenly received communication from the Investigating Officer demanding that they object to bail, giving various reasons. 1) “Several new charges to add,” 2) “Issues from Paarl,” and “The accused is an illegal immigrant and a flight risk.” My attorneys failed to show up. The matter was, therefore, pushed to 2023. I spent three weeks in Pollsmoor over Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
6th January: The Investigating Officer said he needed more time for further investigation. Despite (in theory) having had a year to do so, and almost a month since the arrest, he was not yet ready to confirm the charges. He also claimed that money laundering charges were to be added (another lie).
2nd February: The Investigating Officer said he needed more time for further investigation. He was not yet ready to confirm the charges and said additional time was required to request bank statements and phone records. Despite having had a year to do so and 7 weeks since the arrest, this was another lie, and no request was ever made for either. The judge demanded he settle the final charges by 28th February. My attorneys failed to attend again.
9th February: My attorneys finally confirmed their instruction. Surprisingly, they did not push for an immediate hearing on the matter. A date was set to start the urgent bail application—three months after the arrest.
28th February: My attorneys heard nothing from the Investigating Officer regarding the final charges. Or rather, they said they did not. Considering their performance, we cannot be sure.
13th March: The prosecution withdrew the charges on the morning of and before the bail application started. The charges were the same as three months earlier; no new evidence existed, no new victims, no new charges.
None of the charges referred to, objected to bail, or delayed the start of the bail application were ever heard of again.
The Timeline
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13th December: Arrest at 32 Fisherman’s Bend and secret illegal operation at 16 Leirmans Road. The housekeeper is arrested, and property is handed to the owners.
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Mid-December to January: Struggled to communicate with attorneys. First bail appearance on 19th Decemberresulted in R2000 bail, but the prosecution objected with new, unfounded charges. I spent three weeks in Pollsmoor as attorneys failed to attend.
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January to February: Investigating Officer repeatedly requested more time, falsely claiming new charges and needing additional investigation.
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9th February: Attorneys confirmed instructions but delayed urgent bail application, scheduled three months after the arrest.
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13th March: Prosecution withdrew charges before the bail application, with no new evidence or charges presented
The Cases Collapse
On the morning of the bail application's start, I was taken in the usual packed prison transport to the court cells and transferred to the Court No.4 holding cell. There, my attorneys arrived and introduced their chosen advocate, RL. As far as I am concerned, this was the only professional and competent move made by my attorneys since August.
RL had an exceptional reputation in Pollsmoor. He was professional, asked more questions in the few minutes than my attorneys had to date, and gave me the first ray of hope since the arrest.
RL entered into discussions with the prosecution. Alongside RL was the other advocate who had represented me in the August bail hearing, AG. AG was also an extremely professional and very competent advocate who had always instilled confidence in me, and I trusted his counsel despite all that had happened with the attorneys themselves. In less than two hours, they returned to the cells to confirm to me that the prosecution had dropped all five fraud charges but insisted on keeping an immigration charge. This was confirmed shortly afterward in my brief appearance in front of the judge.
A charge that was never part of the arrest, had no role until then, and formed no part of the investigation.
FACT FILE
THE CASE COLAPSE
On the morning of the bail application, I was transferred to court, where my attorneys introduced advocate RL, who was professional and competent. RL, along with AG, another trusted advocate, negotiated with the prosecution, leading to the withdrawal of all five fraud charges within two hours. However, the prosecution insisted on keeping an immigration charge, which had never been part of the arrest or investigation. This was confirmed in my brief appearance before the judge, marking a pivotal moment in the case.
The Impossible Breach of the Immigration Act
The Investigating Officer knew the charge was a farce. He held my passport. Sergeant Duna, Wouter de Swardt’s friendly SAPS officer, had been passed the passport by Wouter de Swardt in the first malicious prosecution, illegal arrest, and wrongful imprisonment, and in turn had passed it to Sergeant Stevens. Sergeant Stevens knew PS had stolen it a year earlier to deny me the ability to extend my visa.
Wouter de Swardt, JS, and DD of ESS, MB, and ADR also stole my replacement passport for Paula Disberry and PVW.
The charge itself was equally farcical. For “not leaving SA on March 31, 2021,” when a) the Home Affairs department had issued automatic visa extensions throughout 2021 into 2022, and b) I had also gotten a visa extension to 31 December 2021.
Not only did the Investigating Officer push for the charge, but they also pushed equally for a prosecution knowing the background fully well.
The immigration issue and charge formed no part of the arrest or detention. At no point was I charged with any matter related to immigration or my visa.
When the fraud charges were dropped, the Investigating Officer insisted on the immigration charge so that they could keep me on bail, under their control and facing prosecution, further adding to the cost of the legal fees, the distress, and the uncertainty. Denying me the ability to either visit or return to the UK and denying me the ability to earn a living.
FACT FILE
BREACH OF IMMIGRATION ACT
The Investigating Officer knowingly pursued a false immigration charge, despite holding my passport, which had been stolen earlier to prevent visa extensions. The charge claimed I "failed to leave SA by March 31, 2021," ignoring the automatic visa extensions granted through 2021 and my approved extension until December 31, 2021.
The Investigating Officer’s Fraud
In addition to all the perjury, fraud, thefts, and criminality, the Investigating Officer provided an affidavit regarding the immigration charge to retrospectively insert it into events and proceedings, whereas, in reality, it had no role whatsoever. The entire affidavit is one lie after another.
The Home Affairs Department affidavits are also very suspect. Two employees of the Home Affairs department, based in two separate offices, both swore under oath as to the breach of the immigration laws despite working for the department that issued the memorandum on the automatic extensions of visas. This was the most significant policy of the Home Affairs Department in its history.
Further, printouts from the Home Affairs computer were attached to their affidavits. The fine print on one of the pages clearly states that I was permitted to be in the country some 9 months after the alleged breach. A further printout enclosed shows the visa extension application for late 2021. The only logical conclusion was that these affidavits were obtained through coercion, corruption, or were forgeries.
Representations to the State
The prosecution would certainly seem to agree that the testimony and affidavit of the Investigating Officer and the two home affairs employees the consortium had ‘persuaded’ to agree with their demonstrably false stance on the law were highly suspect. Hence dropping that charge as well when in receipt of representations.
FACT FILE
THE CONSORTIUM
The Investigating Officer falsely inserted the immigration charge into legal proceedings, despite it having no role in my arrest or detention. His affidavit was entirely fabricated. Even more concerning, two Home Affairs employees swore under oath that I had violated immigration laws, despite their own department issuing automatic visa extensions, the largest policy change in its history. Their affidavits included Home Affairs computer printouts, which clearly showed I was legally in the country. The only logical conclusion is that these statements were obtained through coercion, corruption, or forgery
Can the Real Scammers Please Step Forward
The collateral damage caused by Wouter de Swardt, the consortium, the state, and the attorneys is staggering. The number of crimes committed, the amount of fraud committed, the amount of obstruction and interference in justice and its administration, the number of ethical and professional codes breached, the number of lives destroyed, and the number of victims created. All of this is to develop and build upon the scam narrative, which is used to ruin me and hide the actual crimes, the actual criminals, and the motives of those involved.
At its core, the simple motive was greed. However, any individual may seek to justify, explain, excuse, or deny their involvement, their actions, the actions of their fellow landlords, and the actions carried out by their proxies.
Whether the illegal evictions, illegal arrests, secret operations, assaults, criminal defamation, open warfare on my business, public vilification built on lies, thefts, premeditated plans to create hundreds of victims, embezzlement, or the scam they set up to rake in cash, disguising the scam as mine so that I would take the blame.
The MAGISTRATE’S Investigation
During that appearance, the judge mentioned something was amiss. Already frustrated with the handling by both sides of the urgent bail application throughout, he was keen that there be an investigation into the conduct of the matter. My attorney successfully argued that keeping me in Pollsmoor would be egregious while this took place, and the judge agreed.
No such investigation has taken place, and my attorney has not pushed for one either then or since.
FACT FILE
REAL SCAMMERS
Wouter de Swardt, the consortium, and their allies fabricated a scam narrative to conceal their own fraudWouter de Swardt, the consortium, and their allies fabricated a scam narrative to conceal their own fraud, theft, and misconduct. Through illegal evictions, arrests, and business sabotage, they shifted blame onto me while profiting from the deception., theft, and misconduct. Through illegal evictions, arrests, and business sabotage, they shifted blame onto me while profiting from the deception.
The Other Magistrate's Investigation
In his summary of the first bail application, the magistrate also voiced several concerns and suggested an investigation.
Although no such investigation has taken place and my attorney has not pushed for one then or since. One of the many things I requested, had it been done, would have made the December arrest much less likely.
The Post-Arrest Plan to Create Victims
In the absence of actual fraud and not one of the nineteen thousand guests Wouter de Swardt ludicrously claimed had ever found to have been defrauded, the solution was to create victims.
The conduct of Wouter de Swardt, SAPS, and the respective landlords after the arrest more than makes the point. They knew I only used one platform, Booking.com, and knew how to contact the platform, having contacted it on many occasions to get my profiles taken down.
They knew the residences could accommodate an average of twenty-four bookings per month, with an average of 12 guests per booking. This represented potentially one thousand guests over the summer season alone. By not contacting the platforms, these guests would arrive none the wiser, ignorant of the change of control of the villas. If they could manipulate enough guests, create enough losses, and steer those guests away from the remedies available to them, this presented them with a unique opportunity to have something substantive that finally looked like fraud.
If my arrest were actually for fraud, then immediately after the arrest, the police would have stepped in to ensure that not one more person than necessary lost money.
The first and most apparent task would have been to contact the platform(s).
This would apply equally to the owners of the properties.
The arrest itself had been engineered to cause maximum damage, with the confiscation of all office equipment, files, documents, data, and devices leading to the immediate decapitation of the operation.
After MB’s sudden and unexpected departure, I had just two to three weeks to fill crucial slots for the upcoming peak and summer season.
After I was arrested and removed from the operation, the semi-automated booking system continued to accept bookings without a human interface to cancel or vary them, exacerbating an already dire situation.
With me in Pollsmoor the whole time, every means by which the system could be managed was dismantled, and this ghost ship continued from December to February before Booking.com finally disabled the profile. And only then because invoices had gone unpaid.
The failure to inform the platform immediately after the arrest, the day after that, every time a new group arrived to find that they had nowhere to stay, the lying in wait, the notes on the doors, the conversation, the misrepresentation of the source of the clients, the attempts to cause loss, the directing to the police.
Why would you put a note on your door telling those turning up they had been scammed but not telling them to contact the platform? Why list the number of Wouter de Swardt who in turn failed to encourage them to contact the platform? Because the platform would have provided them with remedies and where there is no loss there can be no fraud.
The more people they could trick into arriving at such a dire situation, the greater the chance of motivating more charges for fraud or using them to underpin current charges.
FACT FILE
FRAUD NARRATIVE
With no real fraud or victims among 19,000 guests, Wouter de Swardt and others orchestrated a plan to create them. Despite knowing Booking.com was the only platform used, they deliberately failed to notify it, allowing bookings to continue and guests to arrive unaware. Instead of preventing losses, they misled guests, placed false scam notices, and redirected them to the police—all to fabricate fraud claims and justify further charges. The goal was clear: manufacture victims to sustain the false narrative.
Wouter de Swardt’s Revenge Arrest
In January, roughly six weeks after the secret operation at 16 Leirmans Road (during which Wouter de Swardt had successfully removed all the occupants and taken possession of the keys and the property for his client), Wouter de Swardt was able to deliver on his threat to imprison OS for no reason or purpose other than spite and revenge.
The secret and illegal operation, in breach of a High Court interdict and countless other laws, had succeeded. The primary aim was to enable Inge Broad and Keith Broad to sell and let the property at the premium made possible by me. They had won, and their campaign was a success. The arrest of OS was a purely personal exercise of (illegal) authority by a bully who disliked OS for standing up to him on the 22nd and 24th of July.
OS had been called to aid the guests during the first attempt by Wouter de Swardt and his army of eight thugs (“security personnel”) to conduct an illegal eviction on the 22nd of July 2022. Showing exemplary professionalism and bravery, OS helped the guests and protected them from this attempt.
In one of the videos, Wouter de Swardt can clearly be seen and heard threatening OS with prison if he continued to stand in their way.
He was also present on Sunday, July 24, when Wouter de Swardt returned with his army of eight security personnel. This time, Wouter de Swardt was aided by SAPS and the private security firm PPA.
They forced their way in, beat up the occupants, expelled them, and took over the property. It was that day that they threatened to kill OS’s dog if he returned.
Wouter de Swardt resolved to teach OS a lesson for standing up to him and protecting the guests, housekeepers, and property from attack. He had hoped to do this during the secret and illegal operation undertaken while everyone was preoccupied with the actual arrest. But OS was at work and escaped an unlawful arrest and detention that day.
However, rather than let it go, considering they had achieved all their goals, Wouter de Swardt instructed the housekeeper of 32 Fisherman's Bend to entrap OS. Wouter de Swardt’s opportunity came when OS arranged to collect his possessions from 32 Fisherman's Bend. The housekeeper CM helped Wouter de Swardt create a trap. When OS arrived, he was ambushed by Wouter de Swardt and two SAPS officers, as always from Hout Bay. Wouter de Swardt and the officers arrested OS and took him to Hout Bay police station. Never giving him any clear idea of what he was arrested for, they kept him for almost a week—eventually, he was taken to Wynberg magistrates court with the intention of sending him to Pollsmoor. Fortunately, the parents of OS had instructed an attorney, and on challenging the prosecution, all charges were dropped, and he was let go.
There was no question that if they had been able to, Wouter de Swardt would have been happy to have him shipped to Pollsmoor to try to fight to get bail.
Yet another example of how Wouter de Swardt and his clients were happy to use the state's power and resources for his and the consortium’s own ends. Almost exclusively for financial motivation, although in this instance, spite and revenge.
FACT FILE
REVENGE ARREST
Six weeks after the illegal takeover of 16 Leirmans Road, Wouter de Swardt followed through on his threat to imprison OS, purely for revenge. OS had previously stood up to Wouter de Swardt, preventing an illegal eviction in July 2022.
PSIRA on a Knife Edge
At the point of drafting this document, the PSIRA investigation can only go one of two ways. The investigators have confirmed that they have more than enough evidence to strip Wouter de Swardt of his private investigator licence and to press criminal charges on a number of issues. However, they require an affidavit from OS to be able to do so, and without it, they have confirmed they will simply close the investigation.
If that happens, Wouter de Swardt will be freshly empowered, in particular in the knowledge that reopening an investigation would be extremely difficult, and he would be able to point to the investigation being closed as a clear signal that he did nothing wrong.
He would then be free to do whatever he wishes, retaining his licence and his access to power, to officials, and to SAPS. Very likely playing the role of hero having rebuffed the investigation.
On the other hand, if the affidavit is provided, then Wouter de Swardt will be stripped of his licence immediately, and the charges will be laid. The result will be that Wouter de Swardt will lose his access to power and the ability to use it. He will lose his contacts and channels, and his relationships with SAPS will end.
He will be reduced to a normal citizen and one who has to watch his every action, or he will only make his position far worse were he to do anything that could be held against him in court.
It is unfortunate that so much now rides on this one task. The thousands of hours of research, the doors slammed in our faces trying to get investigations and justice, the millions stolen, the illegal arrests and unlawful imprisonments. All of this will have been for nothing if the affidavit is not given.
FACT FILE
PSIRA ON EDGE
The PSIRA investigation into Wouter de Swardt’s misconduct hinges on a single affidavit from OS. Investigators have confirmed they have enough evidence to revoke his private investigator license and press charges, but without OS’s statement, the case will be closed.
Five Arrests and Seventy Attempts at Arresting
That brought the number of illegal arrests to five. I was arrested twice, in August and December. There would have been other occasions, but arrest warrants were rejected, and even Hout Bay police declined requests at one point.
The 16 Leirmans Road housekeeper was arrested in December. OS would have been arrested if he had been there. His girlfriend would have been arrested if she had not been a European national. And OS was arrested in January. Not one was the product of a SAPS investigation. Not one was in response to a crime. But each was the instruction of private individuals with no authority of any kind.
Abuse of Psira
A Psira license is an accreditation. A sign of professionalism, trustworthiness, and honesty. They are earned rather than given and only maintained where conduct meets strict codes. However, Wouter de Swardt, DD, and JSC have used and abused this accreditation as a cloak of respectability to hide behind and conduct an exceptional array of crimes.
Using it as a tool to gain access to the police, the press, and the biofouling people into thinking they are security industry professionals and giving genuine professionals a bad name for doing so.
The client lodged a formal complaint in April 2022, detailing much of Wouter de Swardt’s conduct, methods, and crimes.
While we cannot predict the outcome, it would be astonishing were he not stripped of his license. It is hoped that PSIRA will go further and ensure Wouter de Swardt is fully investigated and prosecuted.
FACT FILE
ABUSE OF PSIRA
Wouter de Swardt, DD, and JSC have exploited their Psira accreditation to mask criminal activities, using it to gain access to police, media, and deceive the public into thinking they are legitimate security professionals. This has tarnished the reputation of genuine professionals. A formal complaint was filed in April 2022, outlining Wouter’s misconduct, and while the outcome is uncertain, it is hoped that Psira will revoke his license and ensure a full investigation and prosecution
The “Anti-Corruption Premier”
In April 2023, I wrote to the Premier of the Western Cape, Alan Winde. Impressed by the very prompt reply and the assurance of the assistance of his office, I had high hopes for their investigation.
At the time of writing this document, despite sending three reminders since, nothing has been heard.
Impotent Indifferent IPID
Similarly, in April 2023, I wrote to the IPID, including filing a formal complaint using the prescribed form. And then again, a week later, and shortly after. A total of nine times, including emailing every senior member of IPID. To date, nothing has been heard from the body charged with policing and investigating the police.
FACT FILE
THE CONSORTIUM
Despite filing a formal complaint with IPID in April 2023 and following up nine times, including emailing senior members, I have received no response from the body responsible for investigating the police.
The Dossier and Its Use
Wouter de Swardt created a dossier of families who arrived after the arrest expecting a stay at one of the residences. It represented a masterclass in fabrication and perjury. An analysis of the dossier found that 90% of the cases presented were bogus, including an extensive list of false information that cannot be explained away as sloppy investigation.
Knowing I was in prison and unable to research the claims, Wouter de Swardt and SAPS had free range to make whatever claims they wished, whether that be to assist with civil proceedings or in motivating another prosecution.
Hoping and expecting they could extend the remand period for many months, they were confident there would be no examination of the “evidence” they presented and used in multiple arenas. And having confiscated and then illegally retained all my devices and data, even if I were to be released, that ability was all but removed.
Of the eleven guests Wouter de Swardt claimed had paid into the Cape Exclusive Residences bank account, only one had. As a guest would have to have provided the details of the account they paid into and would not know the CEP bank account details if they did not, this is not a random mistake. It is the fabrication of evidence affecting 90% of those who arrived.
Conveniently omitting also to mention those into bank accounts being controlled by his friends at ESS and MB.
The investigations and campaigns had nothing to do with justice or protecting guests, obtaining resolutions for guests, or protecting future guests.
If they were genuine, then an arrest would have been made soon after the complaints were received, ensuring it would have addressed any criminal activity and stopped others from becoming victims. SAPS should not keep dockets, complaints, or charges on ice while waiting for something more plausible to come along and then revert in the absence of anything better.
In the criminal justice system in South Africa, the victim should be at the centre. If SAPS believed I was a scammer, why would they leave me to scam for a full year and then decide to arrest me? They should not allow the fraudulent operation to continue and create thousands of victims by evicting hosts and decapitating the booking system.
FACT FILE
THE DOSSIER
Wouter de Swardt created a fabricated dossier of false claims, including bogus guest payments, to assist in civil proceedings and motivate further prosecution, relying on the lack of scrutiny while I was imprisoned and my devices illegally retained.
The Winners and Losers
The relative positions at the start of the enterprise or the campaign and as it is now revealed who the winners and losers are. On the one hand, I have lost tens of millions over the last two years and tens of millions more on what I should have received over the remaining tenures of the leases. The consortium members have become millions richer.
Voiding PIE
As in every civilized nation, tenants in South Africa benefit from a number of fundamental protections. The most important of which is the PIE Act. This protects tenants from rogue landlords evicting them without a court order. However, if a landlord has enough money or the right contacts within the police service, they can execute an immediate eviction without the expense and time needed to go through the civil courts. And with the costs being met by the South African taxpayer. They do so simply by using the model established by Wouter de Swardt.
The State Aided Piñata
It is a perverse system where one Department of the State can be prosecuting someone for being in South Africa whom another department of the state had given permission to be in South Africa while one department of the state illegally held their passport in the hope that despite all this another department of the State would prosecute.
I was put in an untenable position, out on bail for a crime I did not commit, with the state barring me from returning to the United Kingdom while the state illegally held my passport.
FACT FILE
STATE AIDED PINATA
The system is flawed when one department of the state prosecutes someone for being in South Africa, while another has granted them permission, and a third department illegally holds their passport, putting them in an impossible position, out on bail for a crime they didn't commit, unable to return to the UK.
The Losses, Damage, Pain, and Suffering
I have suffered two illegal arrests and two periods of wrongful imprisonment, totalling months in one of the worst prisons in the world. I have had my possessions stolen, and my reputation has been destroyed. The campaign against me by wealthy and privileged South Africans included an astonishing list of crimes, and the campaign has gained credence with no evidence to support it.
The campaign against me followed a pattern throughout 2022 of creating victims and making the best efforts to ensure anyone out of pocket remained so. Their faux concern was disingenuous, as the extreme lengths they went to ensure I could not meet all obligations would impact discretionary expenditure the hardest. One of the attacks on finances aimed to create a situation where rent arrears would accumulate, allowing the taking of properties to be legitimized legally if needed and justified publicly.
The Corruption
The document detailing the incidents of corruption related to SAPS has over a hundred examples, with sixty-three instances relating to corruption and crimes. The document lists the actions of the police service, and if reporting this to the body responsible for policing the police, there would be no one with the power to address these matters. Lauren van Riet wrote to the Premier of the Western Cape, Alan Winde, who responded swiftly and committed himself to investigating the matter.
PSIRA, the body that governs private investigation firms, has been the only body to whom the matter has been reported and has begun an investigation without the need to chase.
I began a dialogue with the British Embassy, the British Consulate, and the United Kingdom Foreign Commonwealth almost a year ago and have maintained that dialogue since. Due to the extreme imbalance of power and resources, I am more than happy for every item of evidence to be in the public domain. In April, I began speaking with and passing the evidence to journalists, hoping that some journalists would take up the story, investigate, and report honestly.
FACT FILE
THE CORRUPTION
The document detailing over a hundred incidents of SAPS corruption includes 63 specific crimes, with efforts to report these to the responsible bodies failing due to a lack of authority. Despite this, PSIRA has begun investigating, and I’ve been in communication with the British Embassy, consulate, and journalists, sharing evidence in hopes of securing an honest investigation and public exposure.
The Continued Criminality
The consortium knowingly and willingly put my life in danger, and the state aided this at almost every turn.
I have received multiple threats, including death threats, over the past 9+ months due to the hate whipped up.
Even after the submission of the representations to the Senior State Prosecutor, none of those involved in the campaign against me have been charged with any offenses, none of the arrest warrants issued have been executed, and none of the multiple instances of obstruction of justice have been investigated.
The individuals have committed dozens of crimes, many grave crimes. And yet it is I who have had to defend multiple spurious charges and, in the most recent attempt, was being prosecuted for not leaving the country on 31 March 2021, despite the Home Affairs Department's policy saying there was no such obligation.
The investigation officers in both arrests were able to get two Home Affairs Department employees to declare me illegal based on not having left South Africa on March 31, 2021.
FACT FILE
CONTINUED CORRUPTION
The consortium knowingly endangered my life, with state support at nearly every turn. Despite submitting representations to the Senior State Prosecutor, no charges have been filed against those involved in the campaign against me, and none of the arrest warrants or instances of obstruction of justice have been acted on. I continue to defend against false charges, including prosecution for not leaving South Africa on March 31, 2021, despite official policy stating no such obligation.
Once A Scammer, Always A Scammer
After MB’s fatal impact, he emerged from his self-imposed exile in June 2023. Not content with the millions defrauded and embezzled, this time, in an attempt to extort R43,000 from me, he recorded the full WhatsApp conversation, including voice notes and images. MB claimed he had not only applied for a Protection Order but had been granted an interim one, followed by a final Protection Order. And further that the PO contained an order from the court for me to pay him compensation in the sum of 43,000.
If I did not pay the sum immediately, multiple threats were made to send me back to Pollsmoor by going to court to inform them of a breach in the Protection Order, which, if true, would have resulted in my arrest.
I was naturally sceptical after having been burned many times by MB and seeing his actual character and capabilities. But at the same time, I was apprehensive. If what MB said was true, he held the power to send me back to Pollsmoor. Unsure what to do or how to find out if what he was being told was true, I requested the involvement of my attorneys. As with so much, they ignored three attempts to get their involvement and advice.
Out of desperation, I emailed the recipients of an email MB had sent me as proof of what he claimed.
I then received a call from Brigadier Sandler. Other than the officer from the Hawks who had accompanied me to the police station in December, this was the first professional interaction with a member of the police service. Highly skilled, in fact.
For all MB’s protestations of being manipulated and the victim of ESS, it seemed the scamming was not as lucrative as they had expected, or ESS had betrayed MB for him to be so desperate for money.
FACT FILE
THE CONSORTIUM
In June 2023, MB reappeared after his self-imposed exile, attempting to extort R43,000 from me. He claimed to have obtained a Protection Order with a court mandate for me to pay him compensation, threatening to send me back to Pollsmoor if I didn’t comply. Skeptical of his claims, I sought help from my attorneys, but they ignored my attempts. Desperate, I emailed those involved with MB, leading to a call from Brigadier Sandler, the first professional police interaction I had. It seemed MB’s attempts at scamming had failed, possibly due to betrayal by his associates.
The Client’s Pledge
Before Louis’ illness, we had discussed putting the portfolio into a trust, the proceeds of which could be ring-fenced, and those guests from Omicron who were still owed refunds (Mark, Mariella, Lijenge, Jason) but who because of the constant attacks in 2022 meant they had not yet received them, would be reimbursed as a priority from the revenue from future bookings.
In the hope that a more rigid corporate structure, with very strict corporate governance and oversight, as well as pre-defined restrictions on where money could go, would both stop any future agents using rental income from anything other than the predefined items and also perhaps naively encourage others to allow us the grace to settle those past obligations (e.g. a fixed percentage to rent, utilities, housekeeper wages, repairs, and guest refunds).
Louis’ opinion was that, while a noble idea, it would create more problems than it would solve:
It would likely be counterproductive as it would be misrepresented not as a genuine desire to settle a debt that had been made impossible by the attacks of the consortium but rather an indication or a sign of acceptance of guilt and used to validate the scam narrative.
There would be no thanks but rather new headaches and arguments over the speed, percentages, and the like.
Because the structure could be set up so that all revenue over and above essentials like rent, utilities, housekeeper wages went to refunds, as it was impossible to predict revenue (while attacks were happening or likely) the lack of a clear timetable would be a stick to beat us with and if we provided a clear timetable and failed to keep to it, regardless of whether that was the result of more attacks, that would be another stick to beat us with.
Had we been left alone, I could have predicted very accurately future revenue and future profit and comfortably given a timetable. But as the figures and charts showed revenue yo-yoed in line with the attacks.
In reality, the consortium did not care one jot for the people they referred to as victims, so nothing would stop their attacks other than complete victory, which required my inhalation.
And with it seems no comeback on them, no possibility of being held to account, no media scrutiny, they would continue to attack to starve us of income, for a whole manner of reasons and advantages to exploit and represent our failures as intentional.
In summary, it was legally very possible, morally the right thing to do, but strategically a Pandora’s Box.
I will find the specific email exchange. The conclusion was that I accepted all his points as valid and very likely, but I would still want to do it. To not do it, would leave me feeling we did not at least try.
But I did not know Louis was very unwell and nor did he until a few weeks later and the brain tumour diagnoses followed by the immediate closure of his practice.
I discussed the same idea with Juan when trying to get Fisherman’s Bend and Leirmans Road back. He was his usual dismissive, aloof, arrogant self.
My response to both Louis and Juan were that I respect their opinions and very much respect everything Louis said. However, I would not be comfortable not trying and uncomfortable banking profits without resolving the issues of the past.
NB: Loris’s theft of my jewellery was also a major factor. I had begun the process of putting some pieces up for sale to repay the past obligations. Something I had not wanted to do and never should have been necessary. Naively assuming the next month would see us come right and the consortium grow tired of forever attacking. The July illegal evictions followed by the malicious prosecution and illegal arrest were a real shock. As well as a clear sign they would never give up until they achieved their goals. And by then it was too late as when I left Pollsmoor I returned to a wasteland, everyone having been frightened off and Loris having run off with my jewellery. But of course, the narrative has me as the villain, and the likes of the landlords and Loris as the victims.
Taking Responsibility
The state must consider the motivation behind the attempts to imprison me. The immigration breach charge is the third attempt in nine months. The state must consider the legality, constitutionality, and fairness of using the criminal justice system to continue the campaign. The details of the campaign, methods used, fabrication of evidence, media manipulation, perjury, and crimes of those involved are highlighted and examined in the public domain, giving me no comfort. If the full facts were presented, the matter would be thoroughly dismissed.
FACT FILE
CLIENT PLEDGE
Before Louis’ illness, we discussed putting the portfolio into a trust to prioritize repaying those owed refunds from Omicron, with strict oversight to ensure funds were used for essential expenses and past obligations. However, Louis believed this approach could backfire, portraying us as guilty and providing new headaches, especially since future revenue was unpredictable due to ongoing attacks. Despite his concerns, I still wanted to proceed, feeling it was the right thing to do. However, Louis’s illness and the subsequent closure of his practice changed everything, and I was left to confront even more obstacles, including Loris’s theft of my jewelry, which I had hoped to sell to settle past debts.
"The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart." Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn