Frangos spy claim dealt a blow in Pretoria court
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Financial Services Correspondent
FORMER Corpcapital director Nic Frangos's claim that his former employer had spied on him illegally was shot down by the Pretoria High Court yesterday.
Corpcapital is selling its assets and winding down, partly due to Frangos's earlier claims that the company flouted corporate governance principles.
Frangos has lobbied government, resulting in the trade and industry department appointing advocate John Myburgh and University of Port Elizabeth professor Keith Prinsloo to investigate Corpcapital four months ago a probe that continues.
But Frangos's success prospect in his coming damages case against Corpcapital for allegedly spying on him, was dealt a blow yesterday as the court dismissed the Anton Piller order Frangos got in January, allowing him to raid the company. Frangos claimed he had "irrefutable evidence" that Corpcapital had instructed spy company Associated Intelligence Network (AIN) to conduct an unlawful probe into his affairs.
But Judge Deon Basson said Frangos's evidence for the search and seizure order, were "flimsy and speculative" and relied on the "hearsay evidence" of former AIN employee Michael Moss, who had contradicted himself.
The Pretoria decision suggests that unless Frangos provides new evidence for his damages case, his prospects of success are slim.
Frangos was reluctant to comment until after Myburgh's probe and his case were complete. For Corpcapital, the Frangos debacle is largely a sideshow as the company is winding up.
In the past year, Corpcapital has already distributed more than 200c a share to shareholders as it goes about selling off its assets more than the current share price of 178c a share.
In this context, Corpcapital's warning yesterday that its earnings for the year to August would be more than 30% down from the previous period will not worry shareholders unduly.
Nov 14 2003 06:21:33:000AM Rob Rose Business Day 1st Edition
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