Judgment to be handed down in the trial of Knysna developer Guy Hill

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

After more than seven years, judgment will finally be handed down in the trial of Knysna developer Guy Hill, accused of defrauding his mother’s construction company out of millions.

Closing arguments were heard in the Knysna Magistrates Court last week.

Guy Hill's legal representative Eckert Brand said on Monday magistrate Denise Oberholzer had requested she be furnished with written argument and that judgment would be made on 13th September.

Hill has pleaded not guilty and contends that while his mother Betty was company director, he was the sole beneficiary of any company earnings.

The case was last heard on 23rd October last year.

Hill, facing 49 counts of fraud, uttering and theft, absconded to the United States while out on bail in 2010 in order to sell his luxury yacht, apparently to finance his defence. He failed to return after being arrested by US police for selling stolen boat parts on eBay.

He was convicted in the Circuit Court for St Lucie in Florida of “grand theft, dealing in stolen property and dealing in stolen property on the internet”, for which he was sentenced to a year in prison. He served five months in a Florida jail before being extradited to South Africa in March 2011 to stand trial.

According to the charge sheet, Hill allegedly used falsified documents to obtain a bond in the name of Hill-Pro, Betty’s company, to buy a luxury Knysna property which he later sold for R4,76-million.

He was twice granted bonds by Standard Bank and First National Bank for about R2,6-million on the strength of allegedly forged documents in which he is accused of signing his mother’s name as well the names of the company’s accountant and auditor.

He also allegedly stole R1,75-million using a Hill-Pro cheque issued to a company he had set up.

The court heard Hill allegedly forged documents and his mother’s signature to apply for credit from a string of mainly building material companies, or falsely claimed that he had been authorised by her to apply for credit.
He is also accused of falsifying company documents, including the minutes of board meetings, to obtain credit.

Betty told the court she did not have a relationship with her son anymore.

She said he was employed as a manager in her Hill-Pro Construction company in Knysna in 2005/6 after he moved to the lagoon town.

Betty said she was reluctant to bring her son into her business due to previous bad experiences and told him not open accounts without her approval.

However, in 2006 suppliers in Knysna communicated with them about outstanding amounts owed by the company. When Betty and Hill’s father Bob investigated the problem, they found her signature on documents she said she had never signed.

Betty told the court she could not have been in Knysna on the dates the documents were signed and that the signature did not resemble her own.

Hill, who pleaded not guilty, used to own a used car dealership with his father in the 1980's and in the 1990's they started developing shopping centres. However, their business collapsed and they were sequestrated.
Their relationship suffered further when Hill apparently refused to share profits from the houses he built in Knysna.

John Harvey