Johannesburg - Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir and his wife Katerina Krejcirova were both behind bars on Friday afternoon.
After an eventful Friday in the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court, Krejcir was denied bail for the third time by the court near Alberton.
He was arrested in November last year and charged with kidnapping and attempted murder.
Earlier in the day Krejcirova was arrested in the same court on charges linked to an alleged stolen vehicle found on the couple's Vaal property.
Speaking outside the court, Piet du Plessis, who formed part of Krejcir's legal team, said Krejcirova's arrest was malicious.
Handing down judgment in Krejcir's bail application, magistrate Reginald Dama said new facts presented by his lawyer did not change any aspects of the matter.
Earlier, Krejcir's lawyer Annelene van den Heever said Dama had previously denied her client bail based on a witness's affidavit which they had since proved to be false.
“It is strange that this (contents of the affidavit) is now presented as a new fact,” Dama said during his judgment.
Dama said it was an abuse of court proceedings for an accused to making new bail applications if he did not have new evidence to present.
Krejcir's lawyer had submitted that a business owned by Krejcirova was suffering due to her husband's absence. Van den Heever told the court that Krejcirova relied on Krejcir to help keep the business running.
“This fact is neither here, nor there,” Dama said.
“It is not the first time that (Krejcir) has been arrested but the business continued to run without him.”
On the stand earlier, Krejcir said in light of his wife's arrest there was no one to take care of their four-year-old son.
He said his mother, who was visiting in the country from the Czech Republic, was unable to take care of his son as she was sick and did not speak English. She was in court for the proceedings.
His 21-year-old son Dennis was also incapable of taking care of his younger sibling, Krejcir said. It was understood that Dennis Krejcir was a student.
Krejcir told the court his lawyers had informed him of the police's intention to arrest his older son in connection with the alleged stolen car.
Dama said while the law stated it was in the best interests of the child to stay with his primary or secondary caregiver, it was not in the interests of justice to give Krejcir bail.
He said while Krejcir had indicated his passport had expired and he had not applied for a new one, he could find a way to obtain a passport. Krejcir had failed to inform the court of all his convictions and pending cases against him.
Dama said Krejcir, on the advice of his lawyers, had chosen not to disclose his appeal in a matter against him in the Czech Republic. He said the State could charge him for not disclosing this information.
Krejcir was fighting his extradition back to his country of origin. He had told the court he only knew of one fraud conviction against him in his native land.
While Krejcir seemed confident during the proceedings, chatting with his lawyer and his mother, he looked disappointed when he heard the ruling. After the proceedings, he turned to speak to his mother.
Krejcir's mother, who had sat in the front row of the public gallery wrapped in a white designer scarf, watched as her son was led into the cells below the court. They continued to converse in their own language.
Siboniso Miya, Sandton businessman Desai Luphondo, and three members of the Hawks - Samuel Modise Maropeng, George Jeff Nthoroane and Ian Jan Mofokeng - were arrested in connection with the same matter.
All the men, except for Krejcir and Miya, were out on bail. Miya had other pending investigations against him.
The group was allegedly linked to the kidnapping and attempted murder of a man whose brother, known only as “Doctor”, disappeared with a 25kg shipment of tik he had been recruited to help smuggle through OR Tambo International Airport. The drugs were worth millions of rands.
The kidnapped man was allegedly kept at Krejcir's Money Point business in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, in June last year where he was reportedly assaulted for four days.
Krejcir, however, has denied knowing the complainant. Their trial was set to run from May 5 to 30 in the High Court in Johannesburg.
Sapa