Alec Hogg: Kellermann and Cosgrove make me an offer not to be refused

Cape Town money manager Cobus Kellermann -  one of two SA kingpins behind the Belvedere Ponzi scam
Cape Town money manager Cobus Kellermann – one of two SA kingpins behind the Belvedere Ponzi scam

By Alec Hogg

Something remarkable happened yesterday when alleged Ponzi Kingpins Cobus Kellermann and David Cosgrove made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. For only the second time in 35 years in this business, I was invited to fire any question I like at them. The last time this happened was 15 years ago with serial entrepreneur Dave King then under suspicion over the Specialised Outsourcing saga.

There were some stark differences, though. King was happy to meet face to face. The Belvedere duo were not. King allowed me to record and transcribe our conversation. Messrs Kellermann and Cosgrove refused to talk to me, and certainly not have it recorded. King approached me directly. Yesterday’s invitation came via Johan Theron of Werksmans.

Both invitations were enticing. My conversation with King was duly transcribed and pored over by dozens of lawyers in the years that followed. That story saw him living as a tax fugitive and only ended when he settled with SARS for almost three quarter of a billion rand. This time around, the Belvedere duo will be answering written questions. Got a feeling the answers will be just as interesting.

* Click here to read the “back story” and access links to all the Biznews.com coverage of the Belvedere saga.


Yesterday’s top stories:

Kingpin Cosgrove breaks cover, writes to Belvedere investors

Meet Belvedere Ponzi buster David Marchant – Kellermann’s nemesis

Belvedere Ponzi: The deVere connection – victim or partner?

Biznews servers suffer cyber attack as Belvedere Ponzi story gains traction. Co-incidence?

Chris Yelland: Contractual relations: The story behind Eskom’s Kusile automation contracts

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