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Brown gets bail in Antheru case

Cape Town ? The Fidentia Group?s former executive chairman, J Arthur Brown, was released yesterday on R10000 bail following his recent rearrest on embezzlement charges concerning the Antheru Trust.

Brown, 38, was also out on bail on embezzlement charges involving Fidentia and the Transport, Education and Training Authority, as well as the Fundi and Infinity investment cases.

He appeared in the magistrate?s court here before Justhree Steyn, who said insufficient evidence had been placed before the court to persuade it that Brown had become a flight risk since his wife had fled to Australia.

Steyn said a High Court judge had recently ruled that Brown was in fact a flight risk and had refused him bail. However, that was in a different matter, and the magistrate?s court was not bound by the judge?s ruling. Another ground on which prosecutors had opposed bail was their contention that he would interfere with a state witness in the Antheru case, Herman Heydenrych. This was because Brown?s lawyer had contacted Heydenrych to establish if he was a witness or the complainant in the Antheru case.

Steyn said no evidence had been placed before the court to support the fear that Brown would interfere with witnesses if released on bail. He had made a good impression on the court and had stood his ground under intense cross-examination. The hearing had been protracted, and Brown had the onus to satisfy the court that his release on bail was in the interests of justice.

Steyn said Brown had not yet been convicted in the Antheru Trust case and that South African law presumed an accused innocent until proven guilty. ? Sapa


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