Prominent estate agencies linked to dodgy property deals

An investigation by NPO Open Secrets has accused heavyweight South African estate agents and law firms of facilitating money laundering, allegedly helping African kleptocrats use dirty money to acquire luxury properties in the country. In a report published last week, Open Secrets accused estate agents Pam Golding, Greeff Properties and RE/MAXCliff, as well as law firms Cliff Dekker Hofmeyr, Herold Gie Attorneys, Van Zyl Hertenberger Inc and Smith Tabata Buchanan Boyes (STBB) of helping corrupt politicians and politically exposed persons (PEPs) from Mozambique, the DRC and Equatorial Guinea of using the proceeds of corruption to buy luxury properties in SA. News24 reports that all strongly denied impropriety or any ethical beaches when responding to Open Secrets. Open Secrets' examination sets out how the children of Mozambique's former Presidents, Filipe Nyusi and Armando Guebuza, poured $2.8m into acquiring high-end properties in exclusive and gated communities in Johannesburg and Cape Town. The funds, Open Secrets' investigators found, was likely the illegal proceeds of an unprecedented looting frenzy that saw Mozambique's politicians and fixers embezzle $2.2bn from three parastatals in what came to be known as the ‘Tuna Bond’ or ‘Hidden Debt’ scandal.

Between 2016 and 2018, Francis Selemani, the adopted son of former DRC President Joseph Kabila, used money from the Central Bank of the DRC and that of the country's Permanent Mission to the UN to buy 13 properties in SA, News24 reports. The properties were valued at $1.6m. It is public knowledge Equatorial Guinea's Vice-President, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mangue, owned two luxury properties in Clifton and Bishopscourt in Cape Town with a combined value estimated at $8.2m. The Open Secrets report showed his brother, Obiang Lima, currently Equatorial Guinea's Minister for Finance, Economy & Planning, owned an $606 000 house in Sandton. ‘.... According to deeds office records, Jacinto bought the property in July 2015, within two years of his father's political campaign acceptation bribes from Privinvest,’ said the report. Further, records obtained by Open Secrets showed in October 2014 Jacinto bought another property in Constantia. He struggled to pay the $193 000 upfront fee needed for the property. It was only through the intervention of Antonio Carlos do Rosario, the chairperson of the three parastatals involved in the Tuna Bond scandal that the matter was resolved. Do Rosario, the report showed, had received an $11m bribe from the Tuna Bond scam. The law firms that worked on this sale were Herold Gie Attorneys and Raccanello Attorneys and Conveyancers.

Ndambi Guebuza, the son of former President Armando Guebuza, who was President between 2005 and 2015, also bought properties in SA using allegedly illicit funds. In 2022, Mozambican courts convicted Guebuza for accepting $33m worth of bribes in connection with the ‘Hidden Debt’ saga. The report showed in 2013, the same year Privinvest started paying bribes, Guebuza bought two properties worth $513 000 and $595 000 in Dainfern and Kyalami. The sale of the properties to Guebuza was facilitated by Pam Golding, says the News24 report. Guebuza's late sister, Valentina De Luz Guebuza, also bought two Dainfern properties for $827 000 each in 2014. Bruno Langa, whom the Mozambican courts sentenced to a 12-year jail term in 2022 for accepting a $8.5m bribe, also bought properties via Pam Golding. In addition to the Gauteng property, in October 2013, he bought a $71 700 property in an affluent suburb in Mbombela, Mpumalanga through RE/MAX Properties.

Pam Golding said it held itself to the highest standards of integrity when conducting business with Langa and Guebuza. The company said it complied with relevant legislative and regulatory requirements applicable at the time. 'The position that you advance in your letter is misinformed in that Messrs Guebuza and Langa were not Pam Golding Properties clients but were counterparties to the relevant transactions and thus the client identification requirements did not apply (at least not to Pam Golding Properties). News24 reports that in connection to Nyusi's Cape Town property, Richard of Moffat Herold Gie told Open Secrets his company acted for the party that sold the property to Nyusi. He said the company alerted the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) that Nyusi had deposited cash into its bank account. The FIC did not respond, he added, saying the company conducted itself ethically at all times. Giorgio Riccanello of Riccanello Attorneys declined to comment, but denied wrongdoing, saying ‘all aspects of relating to due diligence were attended to and all the necessary Financial Intelligence Centre Act documentation were obtained’.

Between 2016 and 2018, Selemani diverted money from the Central Bank of the DRC and that country's Permanent Mission to the UN to buy 13 properties in SA valued at R30m. The report showed Selemani and his wife, Lutale, used a company called Sud Oil and a bank called Banque Gabonaiseat Francaise Internatioanale DRC to move money out of the DRC into SA to purchase the properties. Lutale owned 80% of Sud Oil's shares. In 2016, the Central Bank of Congo and the DRC's Permanent Mission to the UN, respectively, paid $7.5m and R6.8m into Sud Oil's account. The report showed between July 2016 and September 2017 Sud Oil shifted $9.5m to the account Ascend Trust, a DRC investment firm in which Lutale was a majority shareholder. After receiving the money Ascend transferred $100 000 into Selemani's SA bank account. Later Sud Oil transferred $2.2m into Garvelli, a South African company in which both Selemani, Lutale and a South African were the founding directors. ‘In April and June 2017, Garvelli purchased two Gauteng properties for a total of$496 000 ...,’ Open Secrets' dossier said. The conveyancer on the transaction was John Webber, a director of the real estate division at Cliff Dekker Hofmeyr. Webber said the firm had done due diligence on Garvelli, despite the fact the law firm was representing the seller. ‘This was a typical property sale and transfer transaction, and it is common practice for foreigners to purchase property in South Africa using a shelf company (in this instance, Garvelli) to acquire and hold assets,’ he said. Webber added the company had no obligation to verify the source of funds as Garvelli's funds came from one of the major banks. Van Zyl Hartenberger Inc, which was also involved in one of the properties bought by the couple, denied any wrongdoing, notes the News24 report.

The report further revealed in April 2019, Lima and his wife, Virginia Esther Maye Mba, bought an R11m property through a South African subsidiary of their Equatoguinean company Grupo Molsa. In 2021, investigative journalists revealed Lima had extorted bribes from a public construction project and diverted the money to buy properties in Johannesburg through a series of shell companies. News24 says on behalf of Mike Greeff and Greeff Christie's International Real Estate, the law firm STBB denied allegations of wrongdoing.

Full News24 report