AUCTIONEER Rael Levitt is under investigation and faces a bruising assault in the courts - which have already ruled that his firm "deliberately misled" the buyer of a R50-million security estate.

The tycoon behind the R6-billion-a-year Auction Alliance empire this week rubbished media reports that he had paid kickbacks and rigged auctions.

He now faces a probe by both the Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) and the National Consumer Commission after allegations of auction irregularities.

Auction Alliance last year received a damning high court judgment for "deliberately misleading' buyers into bidding for "one of the largest security resorts on the Garden Route".

A buyer who paid R50-million was assured there were 71 luxury units and 62 serviced stands with only a "loose tile here or there". But he discovered 20 of the units were incomplete, there was no boundary wall, and the 62 stands were not serviced.

Since then several other allegations involving high-profile personalities have surfaced, including:

• Auction Alliance and a trust representing Spur restaurant franchise founder Allen Ambor are being sued for allegedly fraudulently misrepresenting the sale of a building in Cape Town. The former Spur headquarters was auctioned for R14-million to a subsidiary of the Oasis investment group;
• Businesswoman Sue Main is suing Levitt for millions in damages after she bought an upmarket restaurant in Camps Bay, Cape Town;
• Businessman Jonathan Killik, from the MKB Group property developers, is taking legal action against the auction firm; and
• Levitt is suing wealthy philanthropist Wendy Appelbaum for defamation in a case that could shed new light on allegations that he misled bidders at the auction of the Quoin Rock wine estate in Stellenbosch.

The Sunday Times has also established that Levitt had a falling out with billionaire Johann Rupert, who complained that his name was being used to "hype" interest in the Quoin Rock sale.

The EAAB has launched an investigation into Auction Alliance. EAAB lawyer Andrew Scarrott said of the matter: "The information provided is being taken very seriously."

In the most recent case, finance group Oasis served summons on the Ambor Family Trust and Auction Alliance in December after discovering a building it had purchased from the trust had an undisclosed building line restriction.

Oasis had intended to turn it into a seven-storey development - only to discover three months after the sale that a big slice of the 800m² site formed part of an adjacent road reserve.

Oasis deputy chairman Nazeem Ebrahim alleged that a mandatory road reserve agreement with the City of Cape Town was not disclosed prior to the auction.

Levitt, who started the business 20 years ago when he was a student, has denied any wrongdoing.

Auction Alliance's legal and compliance manager, Charl Pienaar, said: "It is no coincidence that, for 20 years, Auction Alliance has always enjoyed a world-class reputation for good business dealings without any negative publicity, yet in the past few weeks there has been what appears to be a systematic and well-orchestrated campaign to defame the company." - Additional reporting by Shanaaz Eggington