Trillions of state capture loot can be recovered with civil freezing orders – If the state allowed it…
Attorney Christopher Bean, who specialises in the recovery of stolen monies and assets, says: "We want to have it frozen in terms of local freezing orders which apply in those different countries. And then we want to bring the money back. It's that simple. However, says Bean, "there are people who don't want us to do that because it will expose who are the beneficiaries" of that money. And without a mandate, either from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) or a State Owned Enterprise (SOE), Bean can't go after State Capture loot stashed across the world. He is now challenging CEOs of Public Enterprises to "have the cojones to stand up and have a conversation with us and see if we can help recover the money that belongs to this country so that we can all benefit". Civil Attachment Orders a.k.a Freezing Orders, Mareva Injunctions and Magnitsky Attachment Orders are currently being used very successfully to attach millions of US$ in Putin Oligarch funds all over the world. – Chris Steyn
Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.
Watch here
Relevant timestamps from the interview
- 00:09 – Introductions
- 00:33 – Christopher Bean on his qualifications
- 01:47 – On what he wants to do in terms of recovering money
- 02:19 – On how it can be achieved
- 03:50 – Why the South African authorities have not done this themselves
- 05:37 – The need for a mandate
- 07:03 – What would happen if they got the mandate
- 12:40 – The difficulties of such a task
- 14:20 – In how many countries has he done this successfully
- 16:14 – On the dangers associated with state capture loot
- 17:51 – On the money that is out there that could still be recovered
- 20:19 – Conclusions
Listen here
Highlights from the interview
The trillions looted from South Africa during State Capture can be recovered anywhere in the world with Civil Freezing Orders.
That is according to attorney Christopher Bean, who specialises in the recovery of stolen monies and assets.
Civil Attachment Orders a.k.a Freezing Orders, Mareva Injunctions and Magnitsky Attachment Orders are currently being used very successfully to attach millions of US$ in Putin Oligarch funds all over the world.
"We want to be able to go overseas and recover any money that's been stolen through State Capture. We would track that money. We know people who will let us know where that money is….We want to have it frozen in terms of local freezing orders which apply in those different countries. And then we want to bring the money back. It's that simple.
"We don't really care where the Guptas are. I have no interest, but I'm very interested in where the money is – and we can find that out."
However, Bean says, "there are people who don't want us to do that because it will expose who are the beneficiaries" of that money.
"And…once that's been shown, even though it's a civil case, that information can then be transferred over to a criminal side and suddenly they're going to be held up for theft."
Asked why South African authorities or the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had not done that themselves, Bean says: "Ah, that is the million dollar question. I think it's embarrassment. They don't understand how attachment orders work overseas. They are not familiar with it and they don't want to let people know that they do that. That's the best answer."
But without a mandate either from the NPA or a SOE, Bean can't go after the State Capture loot.
"There are mandates that are given to certain people like the CEO, who would be able to give a confidential mandate to recover funds, to us. However, we need to find that person. We need somebody who's extremely, I won't use any rude words, who is extremely brave to be able to stand up and say this money's been stolen; I'm going to bring it back…as we get close to the election, I think that might well stand them in good stead…
"I'm basically putting a challenge down to the CEOs. Please have the cojones to stand up and have a conversation with us and see if we can help recover the money that belongs to this country so that we can all benefit."
Asked how much money he believes has been stolen, Bean says: "The is estimate about 2 trillion rands, 2 to 3 trillion rands. But let's just say 2 trillion rands…Which is actually a lot of money. And people say, well, the money's all spent, but if you just do some simple mathematics, and you only get 10% of 2 trillion rands, you've actually got 200 billion instead, which is also a fantastic amount of money that we need back here. So they can't spend it all. It's very difficult when you've got that kind of money to spend it without getting noticed."
Bean points out that civil remedies – as opposed to criminal remedies – have a "very light" burden of proof. "If you owe me money and I claim from you on a civil basis, the evidence that I have to produce has to show that you owed me that money on a balance of probabilities. However, if I brought the same case against you for the same amount of money, and I brought a criminal case against you, the burden of proof would be that I would have to show that the money belongs to me beyond a reasonable doubt. That's a huge difference.
"Once you've got the freezing order, that's when the fun begins. Because then you have to notify the holder of the bank account that their account has been frozen. You don't notify them, the sheriff does. And they're informed that their money is frozen and they now, they, the debtor, the person who took the money, has the burden of having to prove that the money actually belongs to him or her or them or the company or whatever it is."
Read also: