FBI 'sorry' for man'stwo weeks in SA jail
2003-02-26 09:40
London - British pensioner Derek Bond is due to be freed from a South African jail after America's Federal Bureau of Investigation has admitted he is not one of their most-wanted men after all, reports Sky News.
The 72-year-old has spent two weeks in a South African jail after being wrongly suspected of carrying out a multimillion-dollar fraud in the United States.
Police senior superintendent Mary Martins-Engelbrecht said from Johannesburg that Bond had been arrested two weeks ago at Babanango in northern KwaZulu-Natal after his description, passport number and other details perfectly matched those in an Interpol dossier on the wanted man.
Bond was detained in February at Interpol's request on suspicion of involvement in a $5m (about R40.4m) telemarketing fraud in the United States.
US officials said they realised they had made a mistake when a man thought to be the real suspect was arrested in Las Vegas.
The US attorney's office said: "We got the wrong man. Mr Bond is owed an apology."
'Wanted man may be dangerous'
Mr Bond's family have insisted he was a victim of mistaken identity since he was arrested.
The FBI was hunting a suspect known by the names of Derek Bond and Derek Lloyd Sykes, who had the same date of birth and passport number as the retired businessman from Bristol.
The Interpol website said the wanted man "may be dangerous" and listed his offences as property conspiracy, fraud conspiracy and money laundering.
Sapa reports from Johannesburg that a court had ruled that Bond could be extradited if he was the wanted man, according to Martins-Engelbrecht.
She said: "The South African authorities are talking to their US counterparts to confirm the suspect's identity after which a decision will be made."
Bond's family said he was the victim of mistaken identity, but FBI officials and the SA police said they believed he was the right person.
Bond's wife, Audrey, who was with him at the time of his arrest, was still in KwaZulu-Natal. His daughter, Gillian, arrived from Britain recently.