The case of an Eastern Cape ostrich farmer versus the powers of Standard Bank would appear to be something of a David and Goliath affair. The funny thing is, that is exactly how it appears to be playing out.

63-year-old Ash Davenport has allegedly proven that his mortgage loan with Standard Bank has been sold to an investor in Taiwan, leading him to believe that the bank has no claim over his farm after a R3 million rand loan he took out seven years ago. Here’s ACTS:

Last week he threw the Grahamstown High Court into a spin when his attorney, Bev Carruthers of Port Elizabeth, plonked a securitisation audit in front of the judge. The securitisation audit suggests that his bank loan has been on-sold to a Taiwanese bank and is no longer owned by Standard Bank. That being the case, Standard Bank has no right to be in court. More than that, the audit suggests the bank has securitised (or on-sold) his bond for R5 million, not the R3 million he supposedly signed for.

Of course Standard Bank came out swinging and claimed that the audit, conducted by Michael Carrigan at a cost of R17 000, was speculative at best. They also questioned Carrigan’s understanding of South African law, something he won’t tale lying down:

The US-based auditor, Carrigan, is considered a world expert in securitisation, and has testified in close to 3,000 cases in US courts. In both the Davenport and [Jay] Brown  [another Grahamstown resident] audits, he presented screen shots from the Bloomberg database showing where the “notes” got divorced from the “loans” and where they both ended up.

From here on out it gets very complicated and you might end up a little cross-eyed. Read that full breakdown HERE if you’re that way inclined.

Thanks Tara.

[source:acts]