Checkmate for Kingfin with court order
2009-08-27
Lise Beyers
THE woes of King Financial Holdings (Kingfin) came to a head this week, when a liquidation order was granted by Judge Dennis Davis in the Cape Town Supreme Court. Kingfin had been trying to stall the liquidation hearing, with allegations that a foreign investor was in the process of throwing then a lifeline. But this was laughed off by Judge Davis as an “Alice in Wonderland” scenario. This brings to an end months of speculation about the future of this “too good to be true” financial services company. The Financial Services Board launched an in-depth investigation into Kingfin’s affairs in December last year, bringing to light many irregularities, as well as the fact that the company was insolvent. More damning evidence in this report states that directors of Kingfin, Adrian, Paul and Stephen King, had misappropriated investors’ money and misled them as to the safety of their investments. Dr Paul King committed suicide two weeks ago, shortly after the company had been placed under provisional liquidation. His body was discovered on one of the family’s farms, Kilcairn, near Hermon. He had gassed himself in a vehicle in a guava orchard. Kingfin had offered investors lucrative earnings of up 30% interest on investments per year. These investments were based upon property development. More than 10 000 investors of whom many are pensioners, have invested in excess of R680 million in the company. They now face the daunting reality that they may stand to lose all. A provisional sequestration order was also recently brought against the founder of Kingfin, Adrian King, after an investor applied to the Supreme Court to have King’s assets traced. Yet no assets have been found in Adrian’s name, though he allegedly paid himself a salary of R160 000 per month. PricewaterhouseCoopers has seized all information on Kingfin computers in an attempt to protect the interests of both investors and creditors. The King’s have been prohibited access to the Kingfin offices.
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