A 72-year-old British tourist wrongly detained in South Africa on an American arrest warrant for nearly three weeks would be released once the paperwork had been finalised, the United States Embassy said on Wednesday.
”We hope it will be by today,” said embassy representative DeAngela Burns-Wallace.
Derek Bond was arrested while on holiday in KwaZulu-Natal on February 6. Investigators believed he was the same Derek Bond — alias Derek Sykes — wanted in the US on fraud charges involving $4,8-million (about R38-million).
Bond maintained throughout that it was a case of mistaken identity. Burns-Wallace said a man believed to be the real fraudster was arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday night following an anonymous phone call.
”We regret the situation occurred, but we followed the necessary procedures,” Burns-Wallace said. According to South African police, Bond was arrested because he had the same name and passport number as the man wanted in the US. The visitor also closely resembled a picture issued of the alleged fraudster.
Bond was questioned on his arrival at the Cape Town International Airport from the United Kingdom in late January, but left to enjoy his holiday until a few days later. He was arrested at a KwaZulu-Natal holiday village, and a South African court subsequently ruled four days later that he could be extradited. He has been held in a Durban police station ever since.
His family claimed he was the victim of identity fraud. Bond’s wife Audrey, who was with him at the time of his arrest, was still in KwaZulu-Natal. His daughter Gillian arrived from Britain recently. Interpol circulated the details of a fraud suspect with the name Derek Bond in March last year, describing him as a wanted man. A warrant for his arrest was issued by the Federal District Court in Houston in December 1999.
On Tuesday, the British High Commission in South Africa criticised American investigators for taking so long to determine whether Bond was indeed the wanted man. – Sapa