Cup of hatred runneth over: Judge slams brothers' feud over R30-million estate

26 June 2016 - 02:00 By CARLOS AMATO

Take two warring scions of a Limpopo tea empire and their lonely old mother. Stir in a meddlesome advocate, season with conflicting wills and sprinkle with a dash of fraud.The resulting drama is best served cold, but Judge Fritz van Oosten got pretty hot under the collar when he recounted it this week.On Tuesday, the judge handed down a furious judgment in favour of Richard Penwill, a retired advocate, against his elder brother, Andrew, an ex-stockbroker. For more than a decade, the two have feuded over their parents' estate - farms in Limpopo and the Western Cape worth as much as R30-million.Van Oosten began his summation of the case in the High Court in Johannesburg with a line worthy of a B-movie: "The dispute between the Penwill brothers is embedded in rivalry, jealousy, greed and hatred."story_article_left1He quoted this excerpt from a letter to the brothers, written by one of the attorneys involved: "You are like two vultures feeding off the corpses of your dead parents. So ugly and distasteful. Conduct becoming of the pond people. Repulsive. There is a special hell for you guys who are mirror images, and that is to spend eternity with only one another as company."The brothers' father, Douglas, and mother, Pat, are both dead. The couple moved from Kenya in 1963, when they took over the Sapekoe Tea Estate near Magoebaskloof and bought several other commercial farms.This family trust, known as the Beverley Trust, held half of Douglas's estate; the other half was left to Pat.The crux of the brothers' feud is the point at which Pat, who survived Douglas by several years, became senile - and whether she was "unduly pressured" into changing her will to boost Andrew's share.In 2006, Andrew engaged advocate Jenny Wild. She visited the family farm Grey Mists, where she convinced Pat to dissolve the family trust, ostensibly to put an end to the bickering between the brothers, and split the entire estate equally between the brothers. The judge in his wisdom used literary references ... But sibling rivalry has been part of the human condition forever, ever since Cain and Abel As Richard's wife and three children had been added as beneficiaries several years previously, this cut Richard and his family's portion from five-sixths to half.The next day, Wild and Andrew drove Pat to Johannesburg to consult a doctor, who was asked to examine Pat and certify that she was "of sound mind and legally competent" to parcel out the trust. He did so - without being told of the family discord.Van Oosten found the rush to certify Pat's mental capacity very suspicious. "The inference is inescapable that Richard was deliberately excluded and ignored for an ulterior purpose."What came next, the judge said, was an "outrageous" fraud, involving the sale of a string of family-owned farms to Andrew, via a phony buyer, for R33,000. Their municipal value was R15-million, but their market value could reach R30-million.Andrew lodged an action against the Beverley Trust, demanding R1.7-million it owed him - but issued the summons only to Pat, knowing she was in "an advanced stage of dementia". When she didn't respond, Andrew sought a default judgment against the trustees.The notice was sent only to Pat. It was posted on the front door of Grey Mists - although she was living with Andrew in Johannesburg at the time. The default judgment was entered, triggering a sale in execution of the trust's assets, including all the shares of the company that held the farms.Wild and a friend attended the sale and the friend bought the shares for just R27,300. The friend then sold them on to Wild, who was representing Andrew, for R34300. Andrew thus bought the company having paid roughly 0.1% of its potential value.Richard, then living in the UK, only became aware of this several months later when he received a registered letter from the company secretary. He took legal action to have the process reversed, and Judge Natvarlal Ranchod of the High Court in Johannesburg did so, slamming Andrew and Wild's actions as "an elaborate scam".But it required a full trial to dig up the whole sordid tale - and decide which of Pat's wills was valid.Van Oosten has nullified the 2006 wills, reinstating Pat's 2003 version. Andrew will once again inherit one-sixth of the estate, but will also have to pay the costs of Richard's lawsuit.A copy of the judgment has been forwarded to the General Council of the Bar, which might take action against Wild.Speaking to the Sunday Times this week, Richard said he did not know what had motivated his brother, aside from money. "I really don't know. The judge in his wisdom used literary references ... But sibling rivalry has been part of the human condition forever, ever since Cain and Abel."Andrew and Wild did not respond to messages this week.amatoc@sundaytimes.co.za..

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