Minister Groenewald told wardens to make Liebenberg's life hell: lawyer

Correctional services minister denied allegation, said it was a frivolous attempt to mislead the court into granting bail

The lawyer for alleged diamond ponzi mastermind Louis Petrus Liebenberg claimed his client had overheard correctional services minister Pieter Groenewald telling prison authorities to make his life “hell in prison”.

The lawyer for Liebenberg made this claim when Liebenberg, 60, appeared with five others in the Bronkhorstspruit magistrate's court to apply for bail.

The lawyer, who cannot be named by order of court, said his client wished to place it on record that upon his transfer to the Kgoši Mampuru correctional centre, Liebenberg encountered two wardens who appeared to have been instructed in advance about his arrival.

Liebenberg, through his lawyer, asserted that these wardens were in communication with the minister, who allegedly directed them to “make his life hell”. Liebenberg claims to have overheard these exchanges and maintains that he was being specifically targeted. 

But the correctional services department said, “Minister Groenewald firmly refutes the allegations and is prepared to provide a sworn affidavit to support his position. He has also extended an invitation to Mr Liebenberg to identify the wardens in question, which would facilitate a comprehensive investigation into the potential correlation with their cellphone numbers.”

It said this was a frivolous attempt to mislead the court into granting bail by trying to win the court's sympathy. 

During a previous appearance last week, Liebenberg abandoned his bail application while three other accused, Magdelena Petronella Kleynhans, Helena Dorothea Amy Schulenburg, 59, and Walter Niendinger, 55, were released on bail. 

On Thursday, four more accused were granted unopposed bail. Petrus Badenhorst, 41, was granted R15,000 bail, Adriaan Dewald Strydom, 35, R20,000 and Christelle Badenhorst, 42, and Nicolize van Heerden, 58, were each granted R5,000 bail.

The matter was postponed until November 15 for a bail application by Liebenberg and his wife Desiree Liebenberg. The case against the rest of the accused was postponed until February 4 for further investigations.

 The nine are facing counts of fraud, racketeering, money laundering, theft and various statutory offences, including contraventions of the Companies Act.

Desiree Liebenberg is facing an additional charge of corruption.

“It is alleged Louis Liebenberg registered 15 companies where his ex-girlfriend Kleynhans and the rest of the accused who are either family members or have close relations, were directors,” said National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana.

She said Louis Liebenberg and Kleynhans registered two companies in 2021 which were purportedly involved in buying and selling diamonds.

“Potential investors were lured through social media and radio interviews to invest in the buying and selling of diamonds and were also promised high returns over a short period using a cashless platform called AE Switch.”

She said thousands of investors made payments into the platform amounting to about R4.5bn.

“The accused used the proceeds of the diamond investment scheme to purchase movable and immovable assets, including two mines, various motor vehicles, Krugerrands and silver coins and to pay for Liebenberg’s lavish wedding and honeymoon in Greece.”

When some investors did not receive the promised payments, they reported the matter to the police, suspecting they had been defrauded.

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