Cape Town - The Financial Services Board (FSB) is satisfied with the fraud conviction of former Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown on Thursday, spokeswoman Tembisa Marele said.
“Today's judgment (in the Western Cape High Court) serves to clear the FSB and its officials of these wide-ranging allegations,” she said in a statement.
“It also sends a message to the public that crime indeed does not pay, regardless of how long it takes to arrive at a conviction.”
Marele said that during Brown's trial many accusations had been made about the FSB.
“In fact, so dedicated was this smear campaign that the regulator was portrayed as one resembling a crime syndicate, among other accusations,” she said.
In September 2011, Business Day reported that Brown had laid a complaint with the Public Protector accusing the FSB of gross misconduct and corruption.
He claimed the board misrepresented Fidentia's financial position in order to substantiate its bid to place it under curatorship, according to the newspaper.
“The losses suffered by the investors in Fidentia Asset Management are a direct result of an attempt by officers of the FSB to conceal their own corruption, by fabricating evidence and laying the blame at my door,” Brown was quoted as saying in his complaint to the protector at the time.
On Thursday, Brown was found guilty on two counts of fraud relating to dealings with the Transport Education and Training Authority and the Mantadia Asset Trust Company.
He was acquitted on seven other charges of corruption, money-laundering, theft, and fraud.
His bail of R1 million was extended and he was told to return to court on April 29, for sentencing arguments. - Sapa