Promises of pie in the sky?

PROBE: 'GENIUS' WITH 'NONEXISTENT' QUALIFICATIONS ALLEGEDLY LEAVES INVESTORS HIGH AND DRY

- Hein Kaiser

He's reportedly an expert in smoke and mirrors and delay tactics who couched himself as a misunderstood genius. Dean Visagie allegedly smooth-talked investors out of millions of rand. Investigators are still adding it all up but called the financial damage incalculable.

But when it came to answering for his claims of his self-proclaimed messianic greatness and the investors he allegedly defrauded, Visagie ducked and dived The Citizen.

After almost four weeks of missed appointments and unanswered questions, his victims are still out of pocket and Visagie, full of excuses, remains footloose and fancy-free in Edenvale, where he claimed that he presently lives.

Terra Firma Reverse Technologies, a company Visagie still trades under and that corresponded with The Citizen, claimed it was revolutionising the field of electronic waste management. Visagie painted a grand vision.

"Electronic waste is one of the most toxic waste streams in the world and the fastest growing waste stream. My focus has been on extracting these metals in an environmentally friendly way."

Simply put, he had the proprietary technological wherewithal to mine old circuit boards and other components and, of course, make millions from it. He then allegedly convinced investors to part with significant sums of money, promising lucrative returns to fund his company.