TOP businessmen and other investors have allegedly been cheated out of more than R200-million in a disastrous deal to buy 15 jet aircraft.

Shoprite chairman Christo Wiese, Ajax Cape Town football club chairman John Comitis, Remgro director Jannie Durand and property developer Paul Berman are among those fleeced.

The state-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) also stands to lose R61-million.

Investors signed deals to buy two Boeing 727s, seven 112-seater BAE airliners and six other aircraft to take advantage of Africa's growing demand for air transport.

But it is alleged that the aircraft prices were fraudulently inflated and investors were fed bogus reports about them flying customers around Africa. Six of the aircraft, some in a state of disrepair, are standing idle at Lanseria Airport near Johannesburg. Another is parked in Florida in the US.

The man who sold them, Stellenbosch financial adviser Pieter Louw, has been charged with fraud after Comitis laid criminal charges against him. The IDC is trying to sequestrate Louw's partner, Mpumalanga businessman Andre van Heerden - a director of African Airline Investments (AAI).

Investors said the investment worked like a Ponzi scheme: instead of aircraft earning money by flying, money came in by persuading new investors to buy overpriced aircraft through a web of companies. Old aircraft were left to decay, sparing operators maintenance costs.

There were two major investor groups. The first, 30 business people largely from Stellenbosch, invested in AAI in 2009, which claimed to own six aircraft. Jannie Durand and his brother Jaco - who is Louw's neighbour - were among them.

Hugo Fourie, a stock trader who represents this group, said their R80-million was "gone".

The IDC put R61-million into the scheme by March 2010 and confirmed on Friday that it was looking to recover its investment.

"It ... came to IDC's attention that the funds advanced had not been applied as intended and certain misrepresentations may have been made. The IDC has commenced with both civil and criminal proceedings in this matter," it said.

A second group of 20 investors thought they bought 12 operating aircraft last year for about R150-million, through Louw's other company, Kingsfield Capital.

Liquidators found that three of the aircraft were taken from the first group of investors and "double sold" from African Airlines.

Fourie said five jets which arrived from Britain "were grounded (by the Civil Aviation Authority) the moment they hit the tarmac at Lanseria".

One of the aircraft co-purchased by Wiese has been "stuck" in Miami for months. Papers before the High Court in Cape Town reveal that the US sellers will not release it because a portion of the purchase price is outstanding and there are unpaid hangar and security costs.

Wiese's partner, Cape Town investor Hugo van Veen, who put in R13-million, said, "I'll be lucky to get R2-million back."

Louw's attorney, Jacques Viljoen, said: "Due to the fact that the matter is sub judice my client is unable to debate the allegations."

Louw will appear in the Bellville Commercial Crimes Court next month.

Van Heerden said his own investments in the company were "wiped out" and the IDC had stripped his assets in recent months, including his Summerfields Spa resort on a game farm in Mpumalanga , and two sports cars.

He admitted he had underestimated the time and cost of the "bureaucracy" that kept the planes grounded for six months. "We should have been more cautious," he said, but added: "The idea that there was intentional deceit is false."

Comitis bought shares in three aircraft last year. He has travelled to several African countries to arrange the emergency sale of two of them, but fears that R7.5-million paid by him and Berman for a 70-seater Fokker F28 jet had "disappeared".

"There was never a deal concluded. Our money was stolen in cold blood," he said.

The second deal was brokered by Cape Town law firm partner Deon de Klerk. Having invested his own money in an aircraft, De Klerk said he was "horrified" that he and his clients had been fleeced.

"I trusted Pieter Louw, as all of us did, and that trust appears to have been misplaced."

Berman, who is married to Pick n Pay founder Raymond Ackerman's daughter Suzanne, said in an affidavit that "fraudulent representations", including the false price of a Boeing 727, had "induced" his trust to pay more than R5.6-million.

Francois van Themaat, a legal adviser to Wiese, said the businessman "does not comment on matters which are subject to legal proceedings. We are at present pursuing various options".

Van Zyl said he sold four of the jets but that only R45-million was likely to be recovered for investors.

Van Veen said this was a fraction of the total "of at least R260-million" invested overall.