The ”lavishly decorated” Cape Town headquarters of the Fidentia group are to go under the hammer on October 8, auctioneers Alliance Group announced on Wednesday.
The three-storey Tuscan-style Fidentia House is in the gated complex of Century City.
”Lavishly decorated with brass fittings and balustrades covering three levels of ornate office space, this property leaves little to the imagination,” the auctioneers said in a media release.
”This three-storey office block sits aside a tranquil lake, offering serenity and natural landscaping for the aspirant bidder or company …”
Also on offer would be an adjacent, smaller double-storey block that used to house the Fidentia canteen, named Sycodeli.
An Alliance Group spokesperson, Ariella Kuper, said the two buildings would be sold separately.
Fidentia’s curators had set a reserve, which she was not at liberty to disclose, she said.
But she added: ”At the end of the day, the property has to sell.”
There has been speculation that it will sell for more R50-million.
Fidentia was put under final curatorship in March last year following allegations that its then-boss, J Arthur Brown, had misappropriated millions of rands of clients’ funds.
He is currently in prison facing a number of fraud and theft charges.
Following a plea agreement with the Scorpions in February this year, Fidentia’s financial director, Graham Maddock, got a seven-year jail sentence and R6,3-million fine in return for future testimony against Brown.
The curators are engaged in a legal tussle over Brown’s Cape Town beachfront home and another beachfront property.
They are also seeking a buyer for another major Fidentia property asset, the Sante wellness centre in the Boland. — Sapa