JOHANNESBURG - Three more companies have joined the list of confirmed cases of company hijackings in 2010. They are ContinuitySA, Trademore and the D and T Trust. This brings the total number of recorded cases - excluding the unrelated Kalahari Resources matters - to twenty one (see below).

All three companies had their legitimate directors fraudulently removed on the database of the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO). In the case of ContinuitySA the fraudsters unsuccessfully attempted to divert a substantial South African Revenue Service tax refund that had fallen due.

CIPRO records indicate that ContinuitySA first had their directors fraudulently removed in April 2010. The company restored them in May. However, they then had to fight off two further efforts to replace their directors in early and mid-June.

Trademore and the D and T Trust were both only alerted in the past week to the fact that their legitimate directors had been replaced.

The D and T Trust used to be owned by Deloitte and Touche until it was taken independent through a management buyout. As Moneyweb reported earlier another Deloitte company - Deloitte Consulting - also fell victim to company hijacking this year.

On April 14 2010 all of the company's directors - numbering over thirty - were ‘resigned' on the CIPRO system and replaced by one ‘Dinake Charles Leshaba', aged 30. Deloitte Consulting eventually went to court to get an order that CIPRO correct their records. This was eventually done in October.

These frauds all use the CM29 -change of directors - function on the CIPRO system to remove legitimate directors and replace them with fraudulent ones. The new director will then attempt to open a bank account in the legitimate company's name. This is usually, but not always, for the purpose of diverting tax refunds.

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