Magic Kingdom or Never Never Land?

"Century City - Szczecin", announced in May, was to be modelled on a massive leisure development in Cape Town in South Africa, which was created by Deutsch-Africa (DA), according to Szczecin's official internet site. Built on Lake Dąbie, it was to feature retail and office sites, hotels, a casino, a golf course, stadium and fun park. To be developed in two phases, total investment would total one billion euros. Eurobuild Poland took a closer look at the project and players who intended to participate. What we found was a story of confusion, lies and intrigue... According to articles in Gazeta Wyborcza, Rzeczpospolita and the Szczecin authority's website, the brainchild of the scheme was a Mr. Jörg Duske, and his South African firm Deutsch-Africa. Co-ordinating the project would be Tyger Developer, a firm he co-owns with a Pole, Robert Chrzanowski, and also joining the consortium would be LRPS (Leisure Retail Property Solutions), run by South African Martin Wragge, and a British investment firm called Anderson Capital. Eurobuild obtained the views of events from most of those involved, though despite telephoning the press-office at Szczecin city hall and sending questions by email and fax we were unable to obtain their comments.

Cape Town: missing capital

The first logical step was to contact Deutsch-Africa in Cape Town. We spoke to Mr. Steven Toerien who is in a 50:50 partnership with Mr. Duske. Mr. Toerien said, "Jörg Duske has no mandate to represent Deutsch-Africa in any project in Poland." He also informed us that Deutsch-Africa is merely a shell with no activity, little capital, has debts and is being wound up by the legal system. Mr. Toerien explained that he had set up the firm with Mr. Duske, with the latter declaring that he would provide capital of GBP 20 mln in two tranches, in 2004 and 2005. In reality so far only EUR 35,000 have been transferred to the company's account. During the brief life of the firm debts were incurred, but not paid. Mr. Hans-Peter Scheibert (Scheibert and Associates, Cape Town), one of the firm's legal representatives, is himself waiting for payment. He said "Mr. Duske queried the accuracy of the invoices, but didn't even make partial payment to cover non-disputed elements."

The wrong Deutsch-Africa

We telephoned Mr. Duske to discuss the issues, regarding his South African company and the project in Szczecin. According to him, "It was Mr. Toerien who was taking capital from the firm." He continued, "Anyway this isn't the same company that is operating in Szczecin. My partnership with Mr. Toerien was Deutsch-Africa Development. My new firm has different headquarters, is located in Cape Town's central business district, and is called Deutsch-Africa Group." He also confirmed what was evident from the start. Deutsch-Africa and Mr. Duske had no connection with Century City - Cape Town whatsoever. It was Mr. Martin Wragge (nowadays running LRPS) who was the brainchild behind the project.

Genuine firm, but not involved

Mr. Wragge, and his company LRPS, was said to be involved in the Szczecin deal. We found him in China where he is currently overseeing a project for his own firm. He confirmed that he had spoken to Mr. Duske regarding the development in Poland several times. He found the concept very interesting, but was surprised that the press was reporting "Century City - Szczecin" as a done-deal. This he declared was definitely "premature, to say the least". He also told us that as yet he hadn't had any contact with Anderson Capital, the British investor said to be part of the consortium.

What about Anderson?

As for the British firm bringing money to the vision, Mr. Duske said, "I approached them to make contact with people who could help with the investment." However, he wasn't able to provide us with a contact telephone number for the elusive firm. The sole Anderson Capital registered in the UK was formed in December 2003. However, the property owner for the address given in the official records did not know of the company. Looking into Mr. Duske's previous business activities proved interesting. As a native Berliner he has registered many real estate development businesses at the same address in the city. The German company registry indicates a regular cycle of business liquidations, the latest dated 2nd June 2004. His main activity, which appears to be transparent, is the purchase and renovation of old apartment blocks in the former eastern part of Berlin. Real estate this certainly is, but a long way from hotels, casinos...

London: missing capital

Mr. Duske was also given a seat on the supervisory board of a dotcom company called LetsBuyIt.Com, which was quoted on the Neuer Markt exchange in Frankfurt. He obtained this position as a director of a London based firm called Shmulik Stein International Investments (SSII). At the beginning of 2001, SSII requested an equity stake in LetsBuyIt.com in exchange for 3 injections of capital of 10 mln euros. Payments were not made and LetsBuyIt.com successfully sued for compensation. However SSII still did not pay, and was put into compulsory liquidation shortly afterwards. Interestingly, whilst 'operating', SSII claimed on its web site to have EUR 273 mln of liquidity backed by internationals investors. Despite this, it did not even have its own offices. It simply rented a PO Box (in a prestigious part of London) which it shared with firms offering such products as: miracle acne cures, horse racing tips and telephone sex-line services. The administrator names that had been declared to the British authorities were from the business formation agency that had been used, and should have been updated by the real owner as soon as activity began. Strangely, Mr. Duske denied having ever been a director of, or having a link with LetsBuyIt.com, and SSII, despite being mentioned in numerous press reports and appearing in LetsBuyIt.com's company reports. Could there simply be two Jörg Duske's? Unless these two men share the same date of birth and business address in Berlin this is unlikely.

Szczecin: confusion and contradiction

Szczecin's local press eventually took an interest in the mammoth and improbable project. Gazeta Wyborcza announced that Mr. Duske's project coordinating firm, Tyger Developer, had a pig farm as a registered address, and that the company's declared capital was only 13 euro. It also transpired that Szczecin city officials had taken a trip to South Africa to see the original Century City, but hadn't seen any indication of Deutsch-Africa's existence. GW had also received a statement from the town-hall press office denying that the city was in discussions with Tyger Development. However, according to Rzeczpospolita, the city's vice-president, Mirosław Czesny, claimed know the relevant details about Mr. Duske and his businesses, but said that the city was willing to speak to all people wishing to invest. However, he later said during a meeting with businessmen that Deutsch-Africa lacked credibility. The city's behaviour could be described as erratic at best. Seemingly, without having conducted any due-diligence, officials announced the one billion Euro Century City project. Cynics would be forgiven for thinking that leaking the news of an improbable project was just a means to boost support for the city president's standing less than a week before a referendum to remove him from office. Though why officials paid a visit to South Africa, and continue to discuss the project is unclear. Jörg Duske said wearily, and perhaps with some justification, "The press in this city just seem to be out to get the politicians, and don't want to hear the truth." He concluded the conversation by admitting, "Not all the land on the site is available, so I don't think we'll be able to proceed anyway. I think this week we'll be announcing that the project is off."