Posted on 04/27/2003 4:24:58 AM PDT by Clive
John Bredenkamp, controversial Zimbabwean businessman, has disappeared from the list of Britain's wealthiest people.
The tycoon, who first made his fortune in the tobacco industry, and now has business interests in sports management and tourism (and also alleged to have a stake in Congo diamond mines and arms dealing) appeared on both the 2001 and 2002 lists, published annually by the Sunday Times.
In 2001, he was ranked as the 48th wealthiest person in Britain. The Sunday Times estimated his wealth then at £550m. He was said to be wealthier than Madonna, to have accumulated more money than music impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber, and to be richer than the Queen of England.
He also featured higher in the list than two scions of the famous banking dynasty - Sir Evelyn Rothschild (£500m and 51st) and Lord Rothschild (£460m and 59th).
Last year, he moved sharply up the rankings, to 33rd, with his net worth estimated at £720m. This year? Nowhere.
The search facility on the Sunday Times website yielded the result "Nothing Found". Has he vacated his Sunningdale mansion and moved to healthier climes? Has he lost his fortune? Or have his lawyers been at work to keep him out of the limelight?
There is an easier explanation for the simultaneous disappearance of Nicholas van Hoogstraten from the Sunday Times' list.
In 2001, van Hoogstraten, vocal supporter of, and donor to, Zanu PF, was ranked 159th with a fortune of £200m. In 2002, he was 595th - his fortune having dwindled to £60m.
In October last year, he was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced by an Old Bailey judge to ten years in jail for his involvement in the killing of Mohammed Raja, a business associate with whom he had a dispute.
The Raja family are believed to be suing him for £5m in damages. Van Hoogstraten refused to disclose his assets, and the judge imposed a £200 000 weekly fine, to increase by 10% each week, until he complied.
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