Luxe – a jewellery company that has Arthur Kaplan and NWJ as subsidiaries and which is suspended from trade on the JSE – had the companies placed in liquidation in March, and failed to tell the market about it.

A Business Day report adds it has come to light that Luxe shares the same business consultants as the failed Aurora mine and Velvet Sky airline.

Arthur Kaplan and NWJ owe creditors tens of millions of rand, and NWJ was placed in provisional liquidation in late December after a lender to which it owes R1.9m approached the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria). 

Both Arthur Kaplan and NWJ were then placed in final liquidation in March.

Luxe did not issue a news alert on the matter, as required by JSE listing rules, and while director Thulani Ngubane acknowledged the liquidations in a call, Luxe CEO Althea Grewar said it is a rumour she is investigating.

Meanwhile, individuals associated with Aurora and Pamodzi gold mines are now at the troubled Luxe.

It appears the individuals linked to Aurora became involved with Luxe after a 34.9% stake was bought in 2021 by Grewar.

She had been chair at the now liquidated Nutritional Holdings and sold her stake in Luxe in December, though she denied doing so – despite the sale being recorded on the JSE news service.

Full Business Day report