KleuterZone preschool empire faces liquidation amid R130m investment scandal

The controversial preschool group, KleuterZone, was on Tuesday placed under provisional liquidation in a bid to safeguard the public who have invested in the group and for the liquidators to ascertain what had happened to the money people had invested in the group.

One of the investors, Anita du Plessis, who had invested R1 million in the group, hoping for high returns on her investment, initially turned to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, to ask for KleuterZone’s liquidation.

Her lawyer, Jacques Schoeman, told Judge Sulet Potterill that the preschool group is insolvent. He asked for the preschools to continue operating in the meantime and said that it is best to leave this issue in the hands of the liquidators.

He also expressed his concern that the group’s founder, former singer and TV presenter Anthonie Bougas, has left the country.

Bougas did not file any notice of opposing the application, nor did he file any court papers in this regard.

Judge Potterill was asked not to issue a final liquidation order so that more investors could come to the fore if they wished to do so.

The court was told that the matter is extremely urgent, as there are at least 1 300 investors who each invested at least R100 000 with the group.

While fears are mounting that this is a Ponzi scheme, the court was told that at the very least, the group is contravening the laws as it is taking money from the public.

Two more investors, meanwhile, joined the application, as they too fear that the R1.2 million they had invested with KleuterZone may be in jeopardy.

This follows allegations that Bougas failed to pay dividends to investors this month. KleuterZone is a nursery franchise that has promised its investors annual returns of up to 62.4%.

Du Plessis said in court papers that she feared the company was operating in a manner that may involve fraudulent activities, characteristic of a Ponzi scheme.

She called on the court’s urgent intervention as she claimed the scheme has caused significant financial harm to investors.

Mishka Naidoo and Sesheni Howes, who now joined the application, also expressed fears regarding their investment.

They explained in their application to intervene that KleuterZone called for investments from the public. They promised a wonderful opportunity for any investor to generate long-term income, Judge Potterill was told.

This, coupled with the assurance that KleuterZone is well-established and in “good hands”, with outstanding management and marketing strategies, made it even more promising for investors.

The expectation that Bougas created with the two intervening investors was that, on an investment of R1 million, they would receive a monthly dividend of approximately R32 000, which would total approximately R384 000 a year.

But their hopes were dashed when KleuterZone stopped payments this month and failed to pay rent where the schools are operating.

Concerns were raised regarding its financial stability. It received at least R130 million, especially since some investors invested up to a million rand, Judge Potterill was told.

The return date of the provisional liquidation is May 14.

zelda.venter@inl.co.za