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Johannesburg financial broker Mark Kretzschmar appeared in the Alexandra Magistrate's Court on Thursday.
- Johannesburg financial broker Mark Kretzschmar faces a new R30 million fraud case in Bedfordview.
- Kretzschmar appeared in the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court on Thursday in connection with a more than R2 million fraud case, filed at Bramley police station.
- The case was postponed to 12 August for bail.
Johannesburg financial broker Mark Kretzschmar is expected to be charged in another fraud case involving R30 million, this time in Bedfordview on the East Rand.
This was revealed during Kretzschmar’s brief appearance at the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court on Thursday for a different fraud case, which was reported at the Bramley police station.
In this case, the victim, who did not want to be identified, told News24 that Kretzschmar allegedly vanished with more than R2 million she had invested with him in 2020.
The 56-year-old handed himself over to police on Wednesday.
During his brief court appearance on Thursday, Kretzschmar emerged from the holding cells, shackled at the ankles. Throughout the proceedings, he appeared calm and composed.
His legal representative, advocate Mannie Witz, informed the court of his intention to proceed with a bail application.
However, he was notified that the State opposed Kretzschmar’s release on bail.
State prosecutor Gugu Gumede informed the court on Thursday that the investigating officer handling the Bramley case had provided him with a list of other charges pending against Kretzschmar.
“I don’t know if he is going to be arrested today or if they are going to charge him at the station,” Gumede told the court.
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News24 has reliably learned from insiders with knowledge of the investigation that Kretzschmar is expected to be charged in connection with the R30 million Bedfordview case prior to his next court appearance, scheduled for 12 August.
He is expected to be charged at the Germiston police station.
Meanwhile, his case at the Bramley police station, heard in the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court, was postponed for a bail application.
News24 previously spoke to a number of widows, single parents and businesspeople who said Kretzschmar disappeared along with their inheritances and life savings, leaving them struggling.
Kretzschmar ran a boutique investment business in Johannesburg for a decade, called PCS Holdings.
Clients who spoke to News24 said he approached friends and acquaintances to invest after building a rapport based on years of trust.
His pitch focused on solid long-term growth, not rapid returns.
Combined losses from clients who have spoken to News24 stand well over R40 million.
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The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), which regulates South Africa’s financial markets, is also investigating him after receiving at least six complaints.
Its preliminary assessment team is still probing whether the complaints give rise to a reasonable suspicion of contraventions of financial-sector laws.
The regulator has said that Kretzschmar served as a mandated representative of another financial service provider called Freedom Capital from late 2014 until January this year, when the firm terminated his mandate.
An attorney for Freedom Capital previously said it was unaware that Kretzschmar was using its financial service provider number in the way he did, adding that he appears to have gone “rogue”.
The firm was now seeking to have him debarred.
Several other cases in KwaZulu-Natal and in Vaalwater in Limpopo had also been opened against Kretzschmar.
This comes after victims had struggled to get hold of him regarding their investments.
