FEAR & LOATHINGAgliotti in more Kebble trouble? |
It may be justice time for Stephen Mildenhall, once of Allan Gray.
JOHANNESBURG - News from the Jackie Selebi trial in Johannesburg, where the erstwhile national police commissioner is accused of corruption and defeating the ends of justice, is that Glen Agliotti and John "Turtle" Stratton could face charges for the shooting, thankfully non-fatal, of Stephen Mildenhall*, previously boss at Cape Town-based money manager Allan Gray.
Mildenhall, who has since departed the country with his family, was shot outside his home in the early evening two weeks before the murder of Brett Kebble, in Johannesburg, on the night of September 27 2005. Agliotti, a convicted drug trafficker, has long been charged with Kebble's murder; Stratton remains a fugitive in Australia, where he denies everything and anything.
Clinton Nassif, and others involved in the murder, have so far been granted immunity from prosecution in return for giving evidence against certain others. It is thought that Agliotti's dysfunctional testimony in the Selebi trial, where he was billed as the star witness, may have attracted the possibility of the Mildenhall charges being activated.
This is the completed jigsaw. Just over a month before Kebble's murder, an avalanche of news hit the market: Kebble had stepped down as CEO of JCI, Randgold & Exploration (R&E) and Western Areas, all listed on the JSE; the first two had been suspended from trading on August 1.
Among others sacked was Kebble's father, Roger Kebble. Stratton, a Brett Kebble confidant, was booted off the board of JCI, the Kebble mothership. At this point in time, Allan Gray held roughly 25% of each of JCI, R&E and Western Areas. The three entities had been looted by Kebble and his cronies starting in 1996.
In August 2005, the boards of JCI (JSE:JCD) and R&E were dissolved and reconfigured to house directors mostly connected directly or indirectly with Investec, the niche financial services outfit that had agreed to provide JCI (JSE:JCD) with a R460m standby loan facility, conditional on the departure of Kebble and his cronies. Investec's David Nurek waltzed in as chairman of JCI (JSE:JCD) and R&E, and as a director of Western Areas, where, importantly, he would chair the remuneration committee, and oversee the implementation of a phantom share scheme that would substantially benefit three executives, mainly new Western Areas executive Chairperson Gill Marcus, now governor of the South African Reserve Bank.
Kebble's heavy looting of Western Areas started in November 1998, when he sold half of South Deep, the developing deep level gold mine west of Johannesburg, for $235m to Toronto-based Placer Dome, subsequently taken over by Barrick, the world's biggest gold digger. In February 2002, Kebble sold the South Deep derivatives "gold hedge" book forward for $104m. Investec (JSE:INPR) was one of three banks on the other side of the hedge book, which turned out to be one of the most toxic in gold mining history.
On November 6 2002, in recognition of Allan Gray's ongoing support of Western Areas, Sandy McGregor, an Allan gray executive, was appointed to the Western Areas board of directors.
According to summarised forensic reports published by Randgold & Exploration (R&E) in the public domain, R&E alone was looted by Kebble and his cronies of R1.9bn in cash, by way of shares stolen from R&E, laundered mainly through JCI, and then sold on the open markets for cash. According to R&E, it was effectively looted of a further R1bn in other ways, such as selling fresh shares in R&E for cash, and allocating the cash for looting. The sum total of R2.9bn in cash is impressive.
Western Areas had been left battered. Kebble, believing that South Deep was the best asset under his control, via JCI (JSE:JCD) and Western Areas, would recycle lots of stolen cash back into Western Areas. In August 2008, Gold Fields, which had bought all of South Deep, and killed its hedge book, costing all together a princely $3bn, was indirectly sued by R&E for receiving R519m in stolen cash. Gold Fields (JSE:GFI) has, of course, denied any liability.
As the year 2005 churned on, so it was that increasing pressure was bought to bear on Kebble and his viper's nest of foul and atavistic cronies. In August 2005, Investec (JSE:INPR) bailed out JCI (JSE:JCD) for good reason. Investec (JSE:INPR) was heavily interested in preserving Western Areas, at least until its hedge book matured, something that would take many years. Investec (JSE:INPR) relied heavily on Allan Gray's support, as a major shareholder of the key Kebble entities, in giving Kebble and his gang marching orders.
It is clear that Kebble saw Allan Gray's role in his vanquishing from JCI, R&E and Western Areas as unbearable. Ian Liddle, an Allan Gray executive, confirmed in March 2006 that "we agreed to support the reconstitution of the boards of JCI, R&E and Western Areas in August 2005". For that, Mildenhall took bullets.
Write to Barry Sergeant: barry@moneyweb.co.za
*Stephen Mildenhall was one of Moneyweb’s most popular market commentators, before he was shot, to learn more read:
Liddle becomes Allan Gray CIO
Replaces Stephen Mildenhall who is emigrating; Arrie Lugtenburg also leaving SA.
Mystery shootings shock asset managers
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