Supreme Court halts estate agent's 'elaborate, unconscionable' con job

Middleman's company presented as buyer of a Sea Point property

- By Mzwandile kaBizokwakhe

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has called out an elaborate property scheme concocted by an estate agent to defraud his client, labelling his conduct “unconscionable” and a “devious scheme”.

On March 18, 2020, Jean Pierre Nortje was mandated by Catherine Judy Brown to sell her Sea Point, Cape Town, property, but instead of finding a genuine buyer, he orchestrated a complex ruse.

He presented his client with an offer from Groundswell Developments Africa, a company he solely owned, without disclosing his personal interest. To exacerbate the situation, he got his associate, Crystalla du Plessis, to sign the sales agreement on Groundswell’s behalf using a dubious “letter of authority”, thereby concealing his ownership of the company.