“Property investor won’t get his millions, but we’ll get ours”

luxury property developer zunaid moti and investec bank will score out of a liquidation application - while a big investor in a sandton property development will lose his multi-million rand deposit.

that's what moti told moneyweb's editor-in-chief alec hogg on his radio show this week after an unhappy property investor, vivien natasen, got one of the abalengani group's companies provisionally liquidated in the high court in grahamstown in a bid to recover a deposit of about r8.8m on a sandton property development. natasen had planned to buy a floor in a new development.

moti hit the headlines late last year after it emerged that he and his companies, involved in luxury property developments, were unable to pay more than r1bn to investec bank.

the bank, in turn, went on a witch-hunt to identify whoever had leaked the details of the monster debt to noseweek investigative magazine, causing a stir in private banking circles with plans to subject certain staff members to lie detection tests.

moti came across as unrepentant about the saga on moneyweb's radio show, and said he did not believe natasen would get his money. he called his client "foolish" to opt for liquidation and said: "the liquidation allows us as secure creditors and (investec) bank and ourselves to recoup our moneys and move on."

the young entrepreneur gushed about investec, saying he believed the bank had "done a great restructure" on the more than r1bn worth of outstanding debt.

"it's an amicable solution for the bank and ourselves. it doesn't require us to dispose of the portfolio. instead investec are putting (in) a lot of expertise, as well as they are managing the portfolio to develop it into something quite significant," said moti.

it emerged, too, that not only has moti been rescued from his debt crisis through a restructuring - he is also looking forward to some juicy profit share. he said the "upside is trapped in the developments themselves, which we would share with the bank".
investec bank issued this brief statement through a public relations company late on friday:"investec has decided not oppose the liquidation application as we see this alternative as easier and quicker than a costly court process which could drag on for years. the property in question has been ringfenced and in no way affects the rest of the restructure deal that we have reached with our client zunaid moti."