Quinton Marinus - nicknamed "Mr Big" because he was alleged to be the kingpin of one of the country's largest crime syndicates - yesterday lost his luxury pad, complete with a "man cave" and a spectacular view of Cape Town and Table Mountain.
Marinus's home in upmarket Plattekloof was picked up on auction for just R1.7-million.
The auctioneers had tried to start bidding at R3-million.
SARS had Marinus and his wife Davidene sequestrated when they failed to pay R3.2-million in taxes.
In 2011, SARS put some of his other assets - including a Jaguar, furniture and paintings - on auction. The Plattekloof home is just one of his properties.
It has three bedrooms, several entertainment areas, a pool and Jacuzzi, a gym and a steam room.
One of the interesting features is a cave façade at the entrance to the braai and bar. Two eagles are etched into the stone walls overlooking the pool.
"We all know whose house this is. What guarantees do we have that there will not be problems?" one man asked before the auction.
"There are no guarantees but I do not think there will be a problem," replied auctioneer Casper Rossouw from GoIndustry DoveBid.
"The owner moved out willingly and he did not display any forms of aggression."
The auction lasted less than three minutes for what Rossouw described as a "low-maintenance house in an upmarket and sought-after area".
The buyer declined to be named.
Marinus's brother, Lionel, said some day the family would have something to say about the auction "but not now".
Marinus once faced more than 100 criminal counts in court - including murder, robbery, fraud and perlemoen smuggling.
He was acquitted on all the charges in 2010.
According to court papers, it was alleged he sold alcohol before robbing a Telkom van transporting R600000 in coins collected from telephone booths.
It is believed it took the robbers a day to count their loot. They kept the silver coins but buried the bronze ones.
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