A video circulated online of the assault of a woman on a farm, in Hennendal, sparked outrage on social media and concern among the public, with many demanding action. Photo: Twitter @EFFSouthAfrica
A video doing the rounds on social media showing prominent liquidations lawyer Vaughn Victor abusing a domestic worker has stirred up heated reactions across the country.
The two-year-old video first came to light when journalist Izak du Plessis confronted Victor over his abusive treatment of the domestic worker, known only as Anna or Annetjie, whom he suspected of being involved in abetting a farm murder.
The video ignited outrage on Twitter, with calls for Victor’s arrest.
Victor is a prominent liquidations lawyer, currently involved in the liquidation of Tariomix, owned by colourful diamond dealer Louis Liebenberg.
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Less well known is that he was also involved in bringing the original liquidation application against Mirror Trading International (MTI), the South African-born cryptocurrency scam that left hundreds of thousands of participants out of pocket. He has also been cited as a cryptocurrency expert in various legal proceedings involving MTI.
In April, the Western Cape High Court declared MTI a Ponzi scheme, and all agreements with its roughly 200 000 members void from the outset.
Moneyweb reached out to Victor for comment on the video, and he responded with the following statement: “The publication of the said video is part of a campaign by Mr Louis Liebenberg against me and my involvement in the insolvent estate of Tariomix, which includes spurious and malicious charges laid against inter alia me, with inter alia the South African Police Service, and as such it is inappropriate for me to deal with it further.
“I would welcome a proper investigation into the matter and will be of full assistance to any law enforcement agency who may wish to do so.”
When approached by Moneyweb to respond, Liebenberg said he had nothing to do with the release of the video, and never knew of its existence until this week.
Liebenberg added that application for the liquidation of his company Tariomix, trading as Forever Diamonds and Gold, was done under false pretences as the two applicants who brought the application did not know they were applying for its liquidation. Victor was appointed as a provisional liquidator in this case.
In April, it was reported that Victor had survived an attempt on his life while driving to Pretoria. According to a News24 report, Victor shot back and was unharmed.
Liebenberg, who has few kind words for Victor, offered R100 000 for information leading to the successful arrest and prosecution of the shooters. This came just weeks after the assassination in Johannesburg of Bosasa liquidators Cloete Murray and his son, Thomas.
The provisional liquidation of Tariomix, granted in the Mahikeng High Court in April, has been the subject of ongoing controversy, with lawyers for the South African Revenue Service (Sars) arguing that the liquidation order should be overturned on the grounds that Tariomix was already under the control of a curator bonis (a court-appointed guardian of company assets). The two applicants only later found out about the curator bonis, it is claimed.
In April, the court dismissed applications by Sars and Tariomix to set aside the provisional liquidations.
Tariomix was claimed to have solicited funds from a pool of investors who participated in a number of joint venture partnerships. The provisional liquidators claimed it owed hundreds of millions of rands and was insolvent. The application for its liquidation was brought by two investors who said they did not receive the promised returns.
Liebenberg denies that the company is insolvent and is seeking to overturn the provision liquidation order.
Moneyweb reached out to the MTI liquidators, who provided the following statement: “The mandate of Vaughn Victor to conduct work on the MTI estate was terminated, pending a full investigation of the matters raised, the joint liquidators stated today.”
This article originally appeared on Moneyweb and was republished with permission.
Read the original article here.
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