Chris Walker diverted more than R20m to himself

SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS

Author: Julius Cobbett|
26 June 2013 16:25
Chris Walker diverted more than R20m to himself



Judge: “Walker has demonstrated an inclination to treat [Defencex] money as his own”.

JOHANNESBURG – Chris Walker, who promotes himself as a saviour of the poor, has made a small fortune out of the very people he claims to protect. Walker is the mastermind behind Net Income Solutions, or Defencex, a scheme which solicited more than R800m from 195 000 members.

In a judgment handed down on Tuesday, it was revealed that Walker diverted amounts in excess of R20m from Net Income Solutions’ account to his own personal account. This was one of the findings of inspectors Louis Strydom and Malcolm Campbell of PWC, who were appointed to investigate the affairs of Net Income Solutions.

Judge James Yekiso said of Walker’s behaviour: “Based on this evidence, Mr Walker has demonstrated an inclination to treat NIS’s money as his own.”

Yekiso’s full judgment can be downloaded here.

Approached for comment on this revelation, Walker’s attorney Charné Venter replied: “As previously advised, our client’s instruction remains that he does not wish to comment on the matter.”

The inspectors also discovered that until February 2013, all of Net Income Solutions’ bank accounts belonged to Walker in his personal capacity.

In his judgment, Yekiso found it appropriate that Walker’s personal bank account remain frozen.

Says Yekiso: “Thus, from April 2012 to the end of January 2013, when a significant portion of the operations of the NIS scheme was conducted, the scheme was run through Mr Walker’s personal bank accounts. Based on this evidence, the relief sought against Mr Walker, in his personal capacity, appears to be appropriate. NIS was nothing other than an alter ego of Christopher Mark Walker.”

It seems Walker lived a life of luxury, if the address given on court documents is anything to go by. Walker resides in the exclusive Atlantic Beach Golf Estate in Melkbosstrand, Cape Town – well fenced off from the average Defencex member.