Funeral parlour owner ordered to repay R700k in loan dispute case

A photograph of his neighbour behind a huge pile of cash has resulted in a Potchefstroom funeral parlour owner being ordered to repay R700 000 to a businessperson for a loan he refused to repay.

Judge Daisy Molefe ordered funeral parlour owner Essou Abrahams to pay the amount, plus interest, dating back to 2012, to Potchefstroom businessperson Andre Maepi.

Maepi took Abrahams to court after providing him with R700 000 in cash in February 2012 for an agricultural project, only for Abrahams to deny he had ever received the money.

Maepi relied on a written loan agreement signed by Abrahams and a photograph depicting the middle-man, Abrahams’s neighbour Jeremy Waters, sitting at a table in Abrahams’s home with a vast amount of cash in front of him.

Maepi testified that Waters had introduced him to Abrahams and was present when the cash was handed to Abrahams at his funeral parlour.

Waters later helped Abrahams to count the cash at his home. Maepi was not present, but later went to Abrahams’s home after the money had already been counted.

Waters was also present when Abrahams signed the loan agreement two days later.

Maepi was satisfied that Abrahams would repay the loan as Abrahams said he was waiting for payment from the municipality for projects he was doing.

Waters confirmed Maepi’s evidence. He said the photo of him behind the pile of cash was taken with his cellphone.

Waters said he was under the impression that Maepi and Abrahams were in a partnership.

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