Visagie is accused of deceiving investors and fabricating credentials.
Alleged con artist and fraudster Dean Visagie yesterday withdrew his application for a protection order against Chad Thomas of IRS Forensic Investigations at the Germiston Magistrate’s Court.
Visagie said he needed protection from Thomas’ investigation into his dealings and concomitant social media posts and blamed the loss of a billion-dollar deal on public discourse.
In July, Visagie also copied The Citizen into what he claimed to be a court order for the removal of all media reports pertaining to him and his dealings by Thomas.
However, it was only an application to the court to plead his case. It was his second court appearance after his attorney failed to arrive for the first one. He represented himself yesterday.
Investigator’s strong response
Thomas said Visagie was acting in a frivolous and vexatious manner.
“Mainstream media has reported on Visagie and his schemes previously. What makes this application bizarre is that Visagie conceded in writing to deceiving investors by lying about his qualifications,” said Thomas.
“Now he runs to court to try stop me from doing my job. I will never stand down when it comes to investigating serial fraudsters and will always protect the interests of those that I represent.”
Thomas also suggested that people are abusing a court process set up to protect people that “genuinely need shielding from harassment and abuse”.
The Citizen first reported on Visagie in December last year, when questions began to mount over his self-proclaimed, eight-degreed genius and the investors into his Terra Firma environmental project, who said they had been left ruined.
ALSO READ: Dean Visagie: The master of deception behind alleged investment scam
Questionable credentials and big promises
Visagie presented himself as an innovator who had developed proprietary technology over 25 years to extract valuable metals from electronic waste.
He claimed his research had been undertaken at the University of Pretoria and at international institutions.
He also told The Citizen yesterday that Bidvest entrepreneur Brian Joffe was interested in his technology and offered him a board seat at Enviroserve, but he declined, again, out of fear of his IP being thieved.
Visagie also insisted to The Citizen that Wits University wanted to create a new faculty and publish a textbook based on his research.
Denials and emotional appeals
When offered the opportunity to share his truth publicly, he declined, saying that he did not want his intellectual property publicised and that some of the academic staff involved had already plagiarised his work on prior occasions.
“I had five factories doing research on this, it’s my IP, and I don’t want it taken away from me,” he said yesterday.
“This whole investigation on baseless allegations has already led to my children not speaking to me for over a year. I am a child of God and in front of Jesus I will testify about the validity of my hard work.”
Visagie also previously styled himself as a decorated soldier, saying he had spent a decade as a captain in the South African Special Forces.
The Special Forces Association denied any record of him having served.
Contradictions and threats
He further claimed to have founded a crime-fighting company called Viper Elite which, too, proved fictitious.
Visagie lamented the justice system and said that he may have to “take matters into his own hands”.
He also threatened the journalist, saying that “somebody would get hurt” should further coverage of his dealings be published.
He then questioned why Afrikaners could not stand together or support one another.
Visagie also denied that any investors into his Terra Firma scheme lost money, saying he was the biggest loser, claiming a R2.5 million personal loss.
“If I had to blurt out their secrets about money laundering and secret offshore accounts, their lives would be ruined,” he said.
“But I would not do that, because I am not that sort of person.”
Who Dean Visagie is according to Dean Visagie
- Terra Firma Reverse Technologies owner Dean Visagie called himself a genius on his investment presentations, cultivated an image of academic brilliance and professional acclaim.
- He claimed to hold eight degrees, including two doctorates.
- He also described himself as a specialist in waste management with groundbreaking processes for extracting valuable metals.
NOW READ: Tenderpreneur Kishene Chetty to finally stand trial in PPE fraud case
