German fugitive Jurgen Harksen on Wednesday left on a South African Airways flight to Johannesburg to board a Lufthansa night flight to Germany where he faces fraud charges, Cape Talk radio reported.
Harksen has been extradited after almost nine years of legal wrangling. He ran out of options on Monday when the Supreme Court of Appeals in Bloemfontein turned down an application for leave to appeal against his extradition order, which was signed by Justice Minister Penuell Maduna in April this year.
Ministry representative Paul Setsetse confirmed that Harksen was on his way to Johannesburg. Harksen’s attorney Michael Luck said he had walked with him and police as far as the steps on the aircraft.
Harksen boarded at noon and was flying with a South African police inspector to Johannesburg where they would meet German police and Interpol. Luck said Harksen would catch the 7pm Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt and from there go to Hamburg where he is to appear in court on Thursday.
Luck said Harksen’s wife Jeanette would remain in Cape Town with the couple’s children. – Sapa