Cape Town – Western Province Athletics (WPA) financial board member Allen Barnes was released on R5 000 bail in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court yesterday after he appeared on a charge of fraud involving R250 000.
The 53-year-old was arrested in Gauteng last week where he also made a brief court appearance.
Attention was first drawn to Barnes on January 4 when he was reported missing by his family after he left his Edgemead home at 3.30am to attend the Stragglers Beachcomber race at the Strandfontein Pavilion, but did not arrive.
The car he used was recovered the following day at Cape Town International Airport.
While the search for the “missing” Barnes continued, WPA said “irregularities” had been uncovered.
“As a board we have found irregularities since Mr Barnes’s disappearance and we are conducting a full investigation into the matter,” WPA resident Jakes Jacobs initially said.
Yesterday he told the Cape Times there was nothing new to report.
“The law must run its course before we can do anything.
“The investigation is ongoing, and until it is complete there is nothing we can do.
The case was postponed to
April 30.