Victims of the Masterbond crash have the crusading=20 zeal of one man to thank for last month’s fraud=20 conviction of three of the company’s directors,=20 writes Rehana Rossouw=20
MASTERBOND crusader Don MacKenzie can give you the=20 low-down on the effects of white-collar crime –=20 after all, two of the 12 600 victims of the=20 investment company crash committed suicide while he=20 was talking to them on the phone. =20
For the past four years MacKenzie, founder of the=20 Masterbond Victims’ Association, has been battling=20 like a man obsessed to recover money for the=20 investors, many of them pensioners, who lost their=20 life savings when Masterbond collapsed in October=20
The recent fraud convictions of three Masterbond=20 directors have partially vindicated him, but=20 nothing will erase the memory of those two=20 suicides, or the fact that at least 14 others,=20 investors who gave up hope of getting back their=20 lost life savings, have also taken their own lives.=20
MacKenzie this week recounted: “One of the=20 investors from Namibia called me one night and said=20 he couldn’t impose on his children any more. I was=20 still talking to him when I heard a shot going off;=20 he killed himself while talking to me on the phone.=20
“Another gentleman also called me when he killed=20 himself. He said he had just called to say goodbye=20 — he had drunk weed-killer 45 minutes earlier.=20
“This is what I have lived with for four years. It=20 has affected me tremendously, but I can’t watch=20 people bully others without climbing in to help the=20
Former Masterbond directors Koos Jonker, Johan=20 Brits and Johann Winckler were convicted in the=20 Cape Town Supreme Court last month on seven charges=20 of fraud. They had pleaded not guilty to 15 charges=20 of fraud and theft of more than R400-million.=20
MacKenzie said if they went to jail, it would mean=20 little to their victims. “It won’t put a cent in=20 their pockets. There is still a long battle ahead=20 to recover the money we lost.”=20
The victims were unimpressed with the evidence=20 presented to the supreme court in mitigation of=20 sentence this week. The court heard how the three=20 former directors were now earning between R5 000=20 and R1 840 a month and had to sell most of their=20 assets to survive after their arrest.=20
Jonker is living in what used to be his holiday=20 house in Gordon’s Bay, Brits lives in a National=20 Monument home his family has occupied for six=20 generations and Winckler lives in what was=20 described in court as a “modest house” in upmarket=20 Devil’s Peak in Cape Town.=20
In contrast, MacKenzie relates the tale of a=20 Namibian victim who had stomach cancer and was=20 reduced to living with her two children in her=20 neighbour’s servant’s quarters, without electricity=20 or running water. She did not have enough money to=20 buy pain killers.=20
Another victim in Bathurst was found sharing a can=20 of dog food with her Jack Russell as her only daily=20 sustenance. One of MacKenzie’s neighbours was so=20 moved by her plight that he began sending her R250=20 a month so she could buy food.=20
A retired marine engineer, MacKenzie invested and=20 lost R140 000 in Masterbond. The interest was the=20 only income he was receiving.=20
To pay for his battle, MacKenzie bonded his house=20 for R60 000 and has been selling off personal=20 possessions for years to support himself. He=20 estimates that he has put in 14 000 hours on=20 Masterbond work and has spent about R128 000 to=20 date. Other members of the association donated R23=20 000 to assist him.=20
Masterbond victims have ceded claims totalling R62- million to him to fight on their behalf, as they=20 did not have the strength or resources to do it=20 themselves. About 6 000 investors have joined his=20
“I’m not sure how many of them are still alive …=20 I am applying my mind to digging out more evidence=20 to sue the curators. I have two young attorneys=20 assisting me and I hope to brief an advocate soon.=20
“We are all sitting in a terrible predicament. For=20 most of the investors, this was the worst disaster=20 ever to hit them. The average age of the investors=20 was 74 years — at that age people don’t have much=20 energy to fight a protracted battle.”=20
The 12 600 direct investors were not the only ones=20 affected. Some were planning to use the interest to=20 send grandchildren to university, and there were 11=20 trade unions with investments, representing 1,5- million workers.=20
Churches, the Urban Foundation, Tiger Oats’=20 Benevolent and Funeral Fund and two branches of the=20 SPCA also invested in Masterbond.=20
MacKenzie was instrumental in getting charges laid=20 against the three directors in 1991. He had=20 persuaded a former employee of Masterbond to make=20 an affidavit detailing the firm’s mismangement of=20 investors’ funds.=20
The Financial Services Board had first investigated=20 Masterbond’s activities in 1985, and its inspector=20 recommended its directors be charged with theft and=20
MacKenzie estimates the curators have spent R30- million in fees during their four years of work. He=20 has already lost one supreme court action brought=20 to dismiss the curators, and faces a bill for costs=20 of R50 000.=20
“We have no right to look at the books or discover=20 how much of our money they paid themselves,” he=20 said. “As far as I’m concerned they neglected their=20 fiduciary duties to the investors.”=20
MacKenzie, who is a member of the African National=20 Congress, has sent five letters to President Nelson=20 Mandela and six letters to Justice Minister Dullah=20 Omar asking for assistance, but none has been=20