Bail Delayed for Louis Liebenberg, Wife As 7 Others Released in Multibillion Rand Diamond Scheme

• Alleged multibillion-rand diamond investment scheme mastermind Louis Liebenberg appeared for a second time in court
• Liebenberg and his wife, Desiree's case was postponed for a bail application while their four other co-accused were released
• The Liebenbergs and seven other suspects, with whom they had a close association, are facing a laundry list of charges

TSHWANE — The Bronkhorstspruit Magistrate's Court on Thursday, 31 October 2024, granted bail to four others linked to a multi-billion-rand diamond fraud scheme alongside alleged mastermind Louis Liebenberg.

He and eight others, including his wife, Desiree, face 42 fraud, six money laundering, five racketeering and theft, among a laundry list of charges.

Diamond scam accused bail delayed

The first three out of the nine accused received bail during a first court appearance on 23 October.

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Their co-accused, with whom they had close ties, are Christelle Badenhorst, 42; Johannes Badenhorst, 41; Magdelena Kleynhans, 54; Walter Niendinger, 55; Helena Schulenburg, 59; Adriaan Strydom, 35; and Nicolize van Heerden, 58.

Following his arrest on 22 October, alleged diamond investment scheme mastermind Liebenberg abandoned bail.

However, the court granted Kleynhans, wiNiendinger, and Schulenburg conditional release. Four more, Christelle and Petrus Badenhorst, van Heerden and Strydom, have since received bail, amounting to R45,000.

The court postponed the formal bail hearing for the remaining two accused, Liebenberg, 60, and his wife, to 15 November.

They face two more money laundering charges, while Desiree, 50, faces an additional one of corruption. More are likely to be added later.

Liebenberg allegedly registered 15 companies, of which Kleynhans, with whom he was romantically involved, and the other accused were directors.

Liebenberg and Kleynhans registered a company styled Tariomix in 2020, registering Forever Zircon a year later, in 2021, purportedly for buying and selling diamonds, using the proceeds to fund a lavish lifestyle.

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Big-money diamond investors duped

Gauteng National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said potential investors were lured through social media and radio.

"[Investors] were promised a [lucrative] return on their investment, received using a cashless platform called AE Switch, over a short period," she said.

"In the thousands, they made payments to [the tune of] about R4.5 billion. Some were suspicious when they didn't receive the promised payments and, believing they had been defrauded, reported the matter to the police."

A Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks), the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU), Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) and the NPA’s Organised Crime Unit investigation uncovered the elaborate scheme.

Following the Liebenbergs' expected 15 November appearance, the case against the nine was postponed to 4 February 2025 for further investigation.

Zuma in court in arms deal case

In related news, Briefly News reported that uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) Party leader Jacob Zuma was a picture of enthusiasm outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court after his arms deal case pre-trial hearing on Thursday, 29 August.

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Zuma continues his fight for State advocate Billy Downer — whom he accused of prosecutorial bias — to be removed from the case.

Source: Briefly News