THE Johannesburg High Court will on Monday begin hearing arguments relating to the Asset’s Forfeiture Unit’s (AFU) seizure of R60m worth of assets owned by former Wheels of Africa head Billy Rautenbach. In March Judge Jonathan Heher ordered that the AFU had the right to reply to Rautenbach’s opposition to its seizure of his assets. Heher also ordered that the State had the right to retain the assets while the two parties argued the legality of the seizure. The AFU last year seized the assets, including a wine estate in Paarl, two aircraft and several properties in Sandton, after obtaining a court order in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act. Rautenbach is alleged to have acquired the assets through fraud, theft and corruption. He left South Africa in 1999 after a raid on his business and home. The Investigative Directorate for Serious Economic Offences and the SA Revenue Services removed three truck loads of Rautenbach’s papers and computer data during the raid. The State has not been successful in extraditing Rautenbach from Zimbabwe.