Former Banking Ombud and senior Hawks general join SA Litigation Funding Company

Posted 23 October 2018 Written by SALFCO
Category Justice
The campaign against corruption has just got a whole lot hotter. SA Litigation Funding Company (SALFCO) has announced two senior appointments as part of a programme to strengthen its team and expand its services as it prepares to take on several large cases involving civil and criminal claims.

The two new SALFCO appointments are:
  • General Hans Meiring, former head of the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crimes Unit, and;
  • Advocate Neville Melville, former Banking Ombudsman (between 2000 and 2007), and more recently the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud.
SALFCO provides litigation support and funding for those who would otherwise not be able to afford them due to high legal costs. Most claims in which SALFCO are involved in are in excess of R50 million, though Adv Melville has been appointed as a director of a new business unit, Justice Fund (Pty) Ltd, specializing in the recovery of debts below R50 million, as well as class action suits.

General Meiring has been appointed to head up a team of forensic and criminal investigators that will be involved in the investigation of large-scale debts on behalf of various local and international clients.

SALFCO recently also formed another subsidiary, Recoveries-X (Pty) Ltd, with Dr Mathews Phosa as a director, to assist in the recovery of debts and misappropriated funds on behalf of both the public and private sectors.

Among the high profile cases in which SALFCO is involved, is the claim on behalf of Revenue Management and Protection Solutions (RMPS), the 30% BEE shareholder in Katenge Tubular Construction. The other 70% is owned by Tubular Technical Construction (TTC).  Katenge was set up in 2009 as a BEE company to secure large-scale projects on behalf of the Tubular group. It succeeded in winning contracts valued at R1,6 billion,  but BEE shareholders were later told there was no profit for distribution to them. This was later found to be false, as profits had been siphoned into other companies in the Tubular group. SALFCO is representing the BEE shareholders in their claim for outstanding dividends of R35 million.

Commenting on the appointments, SALFCO CEO Edward de la Pierre says: “The appointments of General Meiring and Adv Melville substantially strengthen the company’s legal and investigations units. Their joint experience and expertise will now allow us to expand our activities from primarily litigation funding to now also include corporate asset recoveries, commercial crime investigations, forensic audits and dispute mediation.

“SALFCO has since inception taken on several cases in South Africa and a selected few from other countries in southern Africa.”

More recently, SALFCO has signed on clients from the USA and the UK, adds de la Pierre.

“General Meiring and Adv Melville will be supported by SALFCO’s existing and expanding team of advocates, attorneys and forensic auditors.”
 

The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Acts Online. Acts Online accepts no responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or fairness of the article, nor does the information contained herein constitute advice, legal or otherwise.