A truck driver's widow in George should have enjoyed the secure pension for which her husband saved. But Jacobus Muller invested a third of his retirement savings - amounting to R1m - in his and his wife's name in unlisted shares in The Heights, a property syndication marketed by Bluezone. The Bluezone schemes faltered, payments became erratic and finally they stopped in 2009, two years after Jacobus died. Despite a business rescue scheme swapping the unlisted debentures for listed shares in Bonatla in 2010, Jacomina Muller complained to the office of the ombud for financial services providers in 2011 that she hadn't received a cent since 2009 and had been relying on her children and a state pension. In July, nine years after the scheme ran into problems, Jacomina finally got some financial relief. Ombud Naresh Tulsie ruled that Andre Jonck of Impectus Brokers and Financial Services, who advised the Mullers, should repay her and her husband's estate the R500000 they each invested. P...
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