'Grateful trio' gave ring to Byleveld

04 March 2012 - 02:15 By SASHNI PATHER
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now

THE businessman described as a "person of interest" by police investigating the notorious Rolex gang - and who bought a wedding band for Piet Byleveld - has a vastly different take on his relationship to that provided by the retired top cop.

Tony Vardas denies being involved with the Rolex gang. His lawyer said he had once been arrested on suspicion of possessing stolen goods but was never convicted.

Three weeks ago the Sunday Times reported that Vardas bought and paid for a wedding band for Byleveld's wife, Elize Smit, as a present for their December nuptials.

Byleveld at the time said he met Vardas "many moons ago" when the latter was a witness in a case he had been involved in.

He said Vardas phoned him "out of the blue" before the wedding, saying he wanted to make a contribution. This resulted in Byleveld publicly thanking Vardas in a weekly magazine.

Vardas has now claimed in a complaint to the Press Ombudsman that it was his wife and her two sisters who wanted to provide the gift after Byleveld assisted them with tenants they were having "problems with".

When first approached for comment Byleveld did not mention this and said he only knew Vardas as a witness.

"I'm not interested in his [Vardas's] personal life," he said.

He added: "I am not a friend of his, let's be clear about that. When he heard I was getting married he phoned me out of the blue and said he wanted to make a contribution to a wedding gift. He organised, through someone else, a jeweller, to make the wedding band."

Vardas denied in his two-page letter to the ombudsman that he had had any dealings with the Rolex gang. The Sunday Times, however, confirmed with several police officers that he was "a person of interest" in investigations into the gang.

At the time of the original report, Vardas could not be reached for comment. Byleveld reneged on an offer to supply contact details for him.

Vardas said in his complaint that he was retired. He said he was a reputable businessman and that the claims against him were "totally false". He said he had not been contacted for comment. Since laying his complaint, Vardas has declined several requests for an interview .

His lawyer, Lawley Shein, said that Vardas had been arrested, and the shop he once owned, Randburg Gold Exchange, had been raided several times by police.

Vardas was named in a 2008 affidavit by Konstantinos Svourakis as having links to the Rolex gang.

Vardas confirmed knowing Svourakis, who he said "is a man who holds a grudge against me".

He said this was "because I have always been a respected businessman in the jewellery trade from which I retired in 2003 with distinction, whereas he was forced to flee the country after being detained by the police and making the affidavit falsely implicating me".

In his police affidavit Svourakis said that he, Vardas and a man named Ari Argiriadis bought "stolen" watches from the Rolex gang and sold them in Greece.

Vardas said : "I have never been approached by any member of the police investigating the Rolex gang or any other gang."

This week Hawks spokesman McIntosh Polela again confirmed that there was an investigation into Vardas, Svourakis and Argiriadis.

In his letter to the ombudsman, Vardas gives his version of how the Byleveld wedding gift came about: "My wife Vivienne and her sisters Tracy Anne Goldrick and Tizya Combrink were having problems with regard to their late father's estate. There was a problem with tenants and unlawful occupiers of land owned by the estate.

"Byleveld, who had retired from the police and who was operating a private consultancy, was approached by the sisters to assist with the estate problems. The sisters and myself had high regard for Byleveld.

"When Byleveld's wedding was announced, the three sisters decided to buy the wedding band for Byleveld to give to his wife. I was given the honour of presenting the gift to Byleveld on behalf of my wife and her two sisters."

He said he met Byleveld "in business" and again after the article was published. Byleveld did not reply to requests for comment.

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now