Brown's arrest comes under fire
2008-05-12 19:08
Cape Town - Arresting Fidentia chief executive J Arthur Brown last Friday was the "most dramatic means possible" to secure his court attendance, the Cape Town Magistrate's Court heard on Monday.
Defence attorney William Booth said an arrest was the most serious invasion of privacy anyone could endure.
He said he suspected the warrant used for Brown's arrest was in itself irregular.
If so, Brown was entitled to his immediate release.
Brown made a court appearance before magistrate Vusi Mhlanga soon after his arrest last Friday.
At Monday's proceedings, Scorpions prosecutors Bruce Morrison SC and Tersia du Toit alleged Brown's wife, Susan, had fled the country last month to evade arrest.
They contend Brown himself was now under further police investigation for helping her.
State will oppose bail
Brown was arrested on charges of fraud, theft and money laundering, this time involving the company Antheru - he is already facing similar charges in the Fidentia saga.
Morrison asked on Monday for a seven-day remand to probe Brown's wife's departure, among other things, and said the State would oppose any application for bail.
The Scorpions request for a seven-day postponement evolved into full-fledged proceedings.
Defence attorney William Booth said Friday's arrest warrant "may be irregular", arguing the warrant was issued on the strength of allegations contained in a supporting affidavit.
He said he needed to examine the affidavit, but that Morrison and Du Toit had declined to give him access to it.
He added: "They say I must approach the High Court to get access to the affidavit."
Booth said Brown's arrest had been unnecessary, as an arrest was only justifiable in terms of the constitutional Bill of Rights if there were no other way of securing a suspect's attendance in court.
"Investigators have to first consider all other options, before resorting to arrest," he said
He alleged that the application for an arrest warrant, to Cape Town's deputy chief magistrate, Sam Maku, was in itself irregular, as was the execution of the warrant (Brown's arrest).
Monday's hearing was told the sudden disappearance last month of Susan Brown had destroyed the good faith between the couple and the Scorpions.
Morrison told the court: "She's not coming back."
Unaware of her plans
At Monday's hearing, Morrison said Susan had been under investigation as well, and that she was aware of it.
He said the investigation team had been happy to delay her arrest - unaware of her plans to abscond.
Brown's arrest last Friday was in connection with charges of theft, fraud and money laundering involving nearly R800 000 - relating to yet another company, Antheru, of which Frederick Heydenrych was the chief.
Morrison said the team had obtained a warrant on April 3 to arrest Brown as well as his wife, but had decided to delay execution of the warrant until the team had consulted fully with Heydenrych.
"At that point, we were quite happy with the situation."
He alleged that Brown had known for some time that his wife was to leave the country, and she had flown out on April 25.
"By now, she's in Australia."
Requesting a seven-day remand, Morrison said the prosecution needed to confirm her flight plans, whether she was permanently in Australia, and the circumstances in which the couple's children were removed from school.
'Uprooted entire family'
He told the court: "We need to find out if the school principal was notified of their departure.
"These are new facts - Brown has uprooted his entire family."
Morrison said defence attorney William Booth, in opposing the requested remand, had not informed the court that Brown had been sequestrated and had lost an attempt to appeal against it.
If Brown were released on bail, he would interfere with the travel agents involved in his wife's flight out of the country, Morrison said.
For this reason, the State would also oppose any bail application launched on behalf of Brown, he said.
Judgment on the application for a seven-day remand is expected on Tuesday.
- SAPA