More than 40 charges of fraud, amounting to an estimated R25 million, have been brought against a Brackenfell caravan dealership that has gone into liquidation, say police.
So far, 45 cases have been opened against Tygerberg Caravans and more are expected, says Brackenfell police spokeswoman Captain Erica Crous.
“All cases have been transferred to the Provincial Commercial Crime Unit who took over the investigation. No arrests have been made as yet,” she said.
Alincke Oosthuizen, a single mother from Brackenfell, is just one of the scores of customers across Cape Town who have been left in the lurch by the dealership.
Earlier this year, she approached the dealership to sell a caravan she won in a divorce settlement, but she says she subsequently struggled to get answers out of the dealership and now she has no idea where the caravan is.
“My father accompanied me when I took my caravan to the dealership on Thursday April 14 for it to be sold. I didn’t have any vehicle to tow my caravan at home so I thought its useless for me to have something I can’t use. I have two small children and I have debts to pay off and the caravan would have been great to sell.”
According to Ms Oosthuizen, a man by the name of Francois assisted her with the sale.
“He then took down my contact details and said they will phone me when they hear anything. He also said he will advertise the caravan and said my caravan is quite popular and should sell quickly within the next two to three weeks.
“Three weeks passed, and I didn’t hear anything yet. When I phoned, they said they might have a buyer, but they would let me know as soon as a deal was made to which I agreed to. I then gave them another two to three weeks, and I phoned back to say no-one’s phoning me and I received no email correspondence and asked them if they wrote down correctly my phone number and email address because I’m getting no response.”
Ms Oosthuizen says the receptionist assured her she would pass on the message to Francois.
But after waiting a few more weeks with no response, Ms Oosthuizen called the caravan shop again. She says they told her they had a buyer but they didn’t say much they were selling the caravan for.
“They told me the buyer paid a holding deposit and that it was basically sold and that the man only needed to pay the rest of the money.”
After waiting until the end of the week and again hearing no response, Ms Oosthuizen says she called and was told that Francois was on leave for two weeks and that no one could assist her at that time.
“On the phone call, I told them no one asked me for my bank details, I haven’t sent anything through to them, and, according to them, if someone paid the holding deposit, the caravan should be sold by now. So I said why is no one asking for my bank details for them to pay the money into my account?”
She called back once Francois was due to be back from leave.
“On the phone, I spoke to a guy who introduced himself as Red. He also never gave me his surname. I told him that my caravan was meant to be sold by Francois and explained to him the story. He then told me that Francois was dismissed and not working there anymore. He said I should WhatsApp him the photo of the consignment letter in the meantime so he could investigate and follow up and would get back to me in a day or two.”
On Friday August 23, she says, she visited the caravan dealership with her father for information on the whereabouts and sale of her caravan after her WhatsApp messages to Red were ignored.
“When we arrived, we saw the gates were closed and this was during business hours, which was around 2pm. I then explained my story to a guy who was working near the gate and he said he would fetch someone to come and help us.”
According to Ms Oosthuizen, a woman by the name of Tracey then told them that she couldn’t let anyone on the property because the business was under administration.
Progressive Administration director Thomas van Zyl emailed Northern News a certificate noting the date of the dealership’s voluntary liquidation on Wednesday August 24.
“The liquidation is still in the very, very early stages as we are still arranging for certain caravans to be handed back to the rightful owners before we can ascertain which caravans will form part of the insolvent estate and be dealt with accordingly,” he said.
Ms Oosthuizen says she opened a case of fraud and theft at Brackenfell police station on Wednesday September 14.
Tygerberg Caravans owner Ben Barber declined to comment and quickly hung up the phone. He also did not respond to emailed questions.
Pepler O’Kennedy law firm, which is representing Tygerberg Caravans, according to the liquidators, also did not respond to emailed questions and calls to the firm went unanswered.
Bradley Voges, from Sea Point, says he dealt with one of the dealership’s salesmen on Thursday August 4.
“When I told him I’d like to sell the caravan he said he’d be able to sell it for more than what was paid for it. He also asked if he could fetch it before the weekend as he was ‘pretty sure it will sell this weekend already’.”
But after the caravan was fetched from his home, it didn’t sell by the weekend, and Mr Voges’s subsequent messages to the salesman, on Wednesday August 10 and Monday August 23, were ignored, he says.
“I then got very suspicious and searched online and found out this whole mess. I contacted him again the next Monday, but he stopped replying. I intended to go to the dealership, but I hear it’s closed up.”
Mr Voges says he has not yet opened a case.
Carl de Bruin-Fitschen, of Green Point, says he took his caravan to the dealership on Friday June 17 but has been left waiting for months to hear whether it has been sold.
He says when his lawyer demanded to know when the money would be paid into his account, the salesman claimed the sale was imminent, but Mr De Bruin-Fitschen says he is still waiting for his money.
