A Gauteng-based vehicle storage company is under investigation for allegedly impounding 29 cars taken from mechanics and panel beaters through fraudulent court orders.
Robert Henderson, the owner of Abandoned Solutions, a company based in Bedfordview, Gauteng, was arrested last week and released on bail for illegally impounding Ralliom Razwinane’s vehicle.
Razwinane, a Gauteng businessman, is one of the 29 complainants whose cars were allegedly impounded. When contacted about the cars, and his illegal practice of using fake court orders to impound people’s cars, Henderson said: “That got nothing to do with you. I am not interested in a journalist, or the magazine, or the newspaper and the article.”
Sunday World has seen a list of fraudulently impounded cars that included BMW, Mercedes Benz, Toyota Fortuner and Nissan Navara.
In 2020, Sunday World reported on how media personality Robert Marawa resorted to the courts to retrieve his BMW after it was impounded by the same company. For its release, Henderson demanded R200 000.
Razwinane is at loggerheads with Henderson following the impounding of his black Mercedes Benz S500, claiming that it was removed from the panel beater in Roodepoort in 2020.
Sunday World understands the businessman had taken his R1.1-million vehicle to JLE Auto workshop owned by Jerome Eagles to be fixed.However, Razwinane said his troubles started when the vehicle was towed away from Eagles’ workshop to a Bedfordview vehicle storage company owned by Henderson. In his affidavit, which we have seen, Razwinane, who has since opened a case of theft and fraud against Henderson and Abandoned Solutions, stated that the costs to have his car fixed by Eagles was R68 000. However, his car was taken illegally and he was told to fork out R400 000 for its release.
A sale agreement document showed that Henderson and his company sold Razwinane’s car to a mechanic Stanley Hodkinson for R800 000. Sunday World has in its possession proof of the sale.
Sunday World has established that Henderson used a fake court order to impound Razwinane’s car. The affidavit deposed by the secretary of Judge Moosa, Gail Constance, in March 2022, dismissed the claim that the order was issued by Moosa. “There is no record of this matter on the case lines, neither on any of my files on my computer. Furthermore, honourable Judge Moosa has a specific format that he requires from counsel to draft their orders. When you compare the two attached court orders, you will clearly see the difference.”
Johannesburg High Court registrar Lerato Luthuli said in her affidavit she did a proper search on case but found there was no record of such a file from Abandoned Solutions.
The police close to the investigation said that the roadworthy certificate was issued in Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape, while the car was at Hodskin’s house in Alberton.
Eagles said that he was not involved in the theft of Razwinane’s car as he stated that he called Abandoned Solutions to remove the car from his workshop as it did not have space to be kept there.
Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said: “This is an ongoing case.”
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