Fraud Suspect Nearly Sinks Ministry Centre

Fraud suspect nearly sinks ministry centre
Private eye traces 'doctor' to empty house in Gonubie
Roberts skips town, employees unpaid
 

Fraud suspect nearly sinks ministry centre

By Geoff Bird

EAST LONDON -- A man who is being investigated by the fraud squad came close to thwarting plans for a Christian ministry centre in the Quigney here. The inter-denomina-tional promoters of the project put in an offer of R1,3 million to buy the ageing Queen's Hotel in Currie Street. But in May the suave "Doctor" Christopher Roberts offered R2,4m for the 56-bedroomed building. To owners Teddy and Irene Chikaka, the offer was manna from heaven. They accepted it and left for Zimbabwe. The Roberts deal was particularly irksome for Mrs Terry Basson, a business training consultant and wife of Stirling Baptist Church Pastor John Basson. Terry Basson envisioned a Christian ministry centre, and an interdenominational task team of religious leaders and business people formed the Hope East London Trust to investigate possibilities. The idea was to offer a range of commercial and Christian-related facilities so the project would become self-funding. These included a Jonty Rhodes Sports Cafe -- a first in South Africa ­ and student accommodation. The trust proposed to invest a further R1,2m in alterations and improvements. Their plans collapsed when Roberts took over. The stand-in manager for the Chikakas and owner of The Dog and Duck pub in the complex, Stan Holloway, was outspoken. "Roberts was here for about two months before the Chikakas phoned and asked me to take over and ban him. "If you find him ask him please to bring back the fax, adding machine and photocopier. When he left we also found beds, TVs, linen, liquor and even wash basins missing. "There was a bill of R5000 for water and lights. I have accounts here for R15800 owed to the municipality, R12300 and R17500 owed to Telkom. "There was a chap coming here with a gun wanting to kill Roberts. ''I've had about as much as I can take." Still able to chuckle is Mr Riko Kruger, owner of Mr Bed. Roberts ordered 25 beds from Kruger. Kruger was never paid, but was able to resell some of the beds to a second-hand furniture shop. Roberts also tried to acquire the defunct Actors pub in the Kings Entertainment Centre. He asked Mr Bed to supply furniture worth R40000. "He told me he was a medical doctor and was going to Cape Town the next day to operate. He was very plausible and persuasive," said Kruger. "Sometimes his hair would be black, the next time he came around it was blond. He liked leather jackets, wore gold chains -- very impressive. Other times it appeared he had been wearing the same clothes for days. At Actors, centre director Kevin Farr sent Roberts packing after credit checks revealed a number of civil judgments against him. Another known venture was a bottle store in Cambridge which is now closed. The East London Ministry Centre is now back on track. The trust, says Terry Basson, takes possession of the hotel at the end of the month and renovations are due to start shortly afterwards.

Private eye traces 'doctor' to empty house in Gonubie

By Geoff Bird

EAST LONDON -- It took local private investigator Christian Botha just an hour to trace "Doctor" Christopher Roberts. But tracking him down for a face-to-face meeting with the Daily Dispatch proved a little more difficult. Roberts was found at a house in Gonubie. Sergeant Marylee-Ann Harris, of the fraud squad, who is investigating charges against Roberts, arrived at the house when it was learnt that a furniture removal company was loading possessions from the house. Roberts told her the furniture belonged to the previous occupant and was being shipped to Ireland. Standing in the empty house, Roberts promised to give a "full statement" to Harris and the Daily Dispatch by tomorrow. Harris said she would decide then what action to take. Meanwhile, Roberts was confronted by the Daily Dispatch with a calling card he had given businessman Kevin Farr as "Dr Christopher Roberts" and claiming he had a "MChb" degree from Stellenbosch University. Roberts said he would not "confirm or deny" he was a medical doctor. On the Queen's Hotel debacle he said only one side of the story had been told. He said he had pulled out of the deal because of "irregularities" and was owed money by the owners. He acknowledged he owed money to the company Mr Bed and agreed he had sold some of the beds. "But the other beds are at the hotel. Have you checked?" He said it was "impossible" that he owed huge amounts to the municipality for water and electricity and to Telkom. On the postdated cheques he issued to buy a bakkie, which were returned by the bank, Roberts said he had been expecting funds to be deposited into his account. When this did not happen, he said he voluntarily returned the vehicle. He refused to say why Cambridge Liquors was now closed, said he had only rented the R25 000 sound system from Leegold Music, and admitted having a "R14000 debt" at City Liquors. "Money is coming through and things will be sorted out," he said. "You do realise if you write anything about this in the newspaper it will destroy me," Roberts added. He has at least two civil judgments for debt.
 

Roberts skips town, employees unpaid

By Graeson Haw

EAST LONDON -- "Doctor" Chris Roberts, the fraud suspect who almost scuttled plans for a Christian ministry centre in the Quigney, has skipped town, reneging on promises to give a "full statement" about his dealings to police investigators and the Daily Dispatch. Meanwhile Roberts' latest venture -- a panel-beating workshop on Settlers' Way -- was closed yesterday and bore signs of a rapid evacuation. From early employees gathered in vain outside Roberts Coachworks to collect outstanding salaries while vehicles that had been brought in for repairs were towed away from the premises. "All the vehicles were removed today during the course of the morning," said a garage owner in the vicinity of the panelbeaters. According to him, Roberts, who is now believed to be in Cape Town, had operated from the premises for close on a month. The firm's office was locked, but a Dispatch reporter peering though the window found evidence of a hasty retreat. Phones had been ripped out of the walls, empty coffee cups and cooldrink cans were scattered about on a desk and several files lay in a dishevelled state on a set of shelves. After being tracked to a house in Gonubie on Sunday by Sergeant Marylee-Ann Harris of the fraud squad and a Daily Dispatch investigative team, Roberts gave an assurance he would submit a full statement, responding to claims of shady dealings, to both Harris and the Daily Dispatch by 2pm yesterday. At the time of going to press last night no such statement had been received by the Daily Dispatch and Sergeant Harris said she too had had no response from Roberts. "I popped into the office this morning but I didn't see anything. He hasn't phoned me or anything," said Harris Local private investigator Christian Botha confirmed that Roberts is in Cape Town, where he yesterday visited Hertz Rent A Car to collect a cheque for services rendered.