Cape Town – A warrant has been issued for the immediate arrest of a Paarl businessman facing fraud charges involving the sale of two helicopters.
Barend Hendrik Oberholzer, 33, was to have pleaded to the charges on Thursday in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Bellville, but was absent when prosecutor Juan Agulhas called his case.
His lawyer, Chris Briston, told magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg that he had been unable to reach Oberholzer.
His trial had been scheduled for two days, starting Thursday.
At Thursday’s proceedings, the magistrate declared Oberholzer’s R50 000 bail provisionally forfeited to the State, and postponed the case to July 14.
If Oberholzer is again absent at the next hearing, his bail will be declared finally forfeited.
Last year, prosecuting authorities twice rejected representations for the withdrawal of the charges, launched by Oberholzer’s previous defence attorney, Cornelius Smit.
Oberholzer faces five charges – two of fraud involving the sale of helicopters, and one of reckless trading in violation of the Companies Act.
On a fourth charge, he is alleged to have transgressed the Financial Advisers and Intermediaries Act, and the fifth charge alleges that he contravened the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca).
On the first fraud charge, the State alleges that he sold a 2008 model Robinson 44 Raven 2 helicopter to a couple for R3,1 million, but fraudulently delivered an older model with considerably more flying hours on it. This transaction happened between June 2010 and May, 2011.
The second fraud charge involves the sale of a similar helicopter for R2,6 million, this time to the Benaja Trust.
A deposit of R265 000 was paid, to be kept in trust and refunded if the trust was unable to obtain financing for the transaction. As it turned out, the transaction did not materialise.
It is alleged that the deposit was not kept in trust as it had to be, and that Oberholzer was only able to refund R140 000 of it.
It is alleged that Oberholzer used the R125 000 balance of the deposit for his own personal expenses.
African News Agency