These are the bulk of the questions faxed to Magnus Heystek, at his request, before publication. He declined to make any comment.
1. How do you reconcile the fact that your company, Cream Publishing, bought stand 1 with the house for R650 000 while the trust bought stand 2 for R850 000?
2. At the time of purchase, had either portion of property been rezoned for business use? Had you lodged any such application?
3. What basis did you have for believing that either plot was rezonable?
4. As trustee, your duty was to ensure the fairest deal for the trust – why did you decide not to put the more readily transferable property (the one with the house) into the trust?
5. When you bought the trust’s plot, what commercial return did you believe the trust would get before any potential rezoning took place – assuming such an application would have been successful?
6. How did you determine the R2 000 a month rent for the property?
7. Why did you not mention the fact that you had paid R650 000 for a similarly sized adjacent plot which had the addition of a house?
8. Were any of the other trustees involved in the transaction?
9. Were they aware of the price differential between Cream Publishing’s plot and the plot acquired by the trust?
10. Were the details of the transaction cleared with your fellow trustees?
11. Were the fellow trustees aware the plots were bought from personal friends – the Di Pasquales?
12. Were they aware that your wife was a business partner of Patrizia di Pasquale in the Casa Deco interior decorating firm?
13. What has happened to the property now?
14. How does the trust benefit from whatever has happened?
15. Why did you fall out with the estate agent who initially had sole mandate to sell the Saxonwold property?
16. Did that estate agent raise queries about the way the deal was structured?
17. Turning to Monica Berman’s house in Linksfield. Why did you, as joint signatory to Monica Berman’s accounts, give Casa Deco the interior decorating contract?
18. Did you not consider this – and your wife’s role as project manager for the refurbishment – to create a conflict of interest given your duties as a trustee for the family?
19. Did your co-trustees know about your wife’s involvement in the Linksfield refurbishment?
20. How much did the refurbishment cost?
21. How much did Casa Deco earn in fees?
22. How much was the Linksfield property sold for?
23. How many other jobs has Casa Deco done?
24. The Financial Services Board says you were not registered as a financial adviser until your sold your company to Citadel last year. Can you confirm this?
25. Have Monica Berman’s children received any money from the Berman Family Trust since their mother’s death?