This is what happens when you couple shoddy detective work with a good legal team. Auction Alliance has won its third straight victory in line with exonerating itself from any penalty relating to the Appelbaum auction rigging scandal.

Yesterday, 2oceansvibe received word from Smiedt and Associates – the legal team acting on behalf of Rael Levitt and Auction Alliance – that the compliance notices issued against Auction Alliance and Levitt in the Wendy Appelbaum auction rigging scandal had been overturned.

The court papers said that the National Consumer Tribunal’s (NCT) decision to set the compliance notices aside meant that the National Consumer Commission had not followed the prescribed process in issuing the notices, and that reasons for this would be provided at a later stage.

Essentially, the decision effectively liberates Auction Alliance and Levitt from any penalty relating to the Appelbaum scandal, unless the tribunal or the courts, uphold an appeal or review of the decision.

What this means is that the NCC is now no longer in a position to conduct any further investigation or make any further rulings into the Appelbaum case.

In a string of victories, Auction Alliance last month learned via a Cape High Court decision that the commission had failed to follow due process in issuing a summons to force Rael Levitt to appear before a hearing into the allegations.

Rosalind Lake, a director at Norton Rose, told MoneyWeb that the Consumer Protection Act only allowed for a recommendation to be made to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for a criminal investigation to take place where a valid compliance notice exists and where that notice has not been complied with.

However, contradicting Smiedt and Associates, Lake says there is nothing that prohibits the NCC from issuing a new notice against Auction Alliance – one that would hopefully comply with due process requirements.

The NCC has now made a mess of a number of high profile decisions, including its notices issued against the City of Johannesburg and Vodacom because it breached due process requirements.

Basically, the tribunal has not been able to rule whether or not a breach of the Consumer Protection Act has occurred.

Don’t expect National Consumer Commissioner, Mamodupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi, to keep her job when her term of office expires in September. The position has already been advertised.

[Source: 2oceansVibe, MoneyWeb]