Africa-Press – South-Africa. An accountant, accused of stealing approximately R52 million from two Spar outlets, will remain behind bars after his appeal to overturn a judgment which denied bail was dismissed by the Gqeberha High Court on Tuesday.
Jonathan Blow was arrested on 17 March and faces two charges of theft and one of fraud.
According to the charge sheet, Blow, who is a director of his own firm, PE Accounting Solutions (Pty) Ltd. [PEAS], worked as an accountant for Sunridge Spar and Despatch Spar, both in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro.
According to court documents, Blow had not only been rendering accounting, payroll and credit payment services to these two outlets since 1999, but he was also a friend of the owners, the Barnes brothers.
In September 2022, when Despatch Spar terminated Blow’s services and appointed a new accountant, it was discovered that PEAS allegedly transferred R11 478 350 from Spar’s bank account into its own.
During the period between July and September last year, Blow allegedly stole R40 590 000 from Sunridge Spar and transferred the money into the PEAS bank account.
The charge sheet stated that, during the same period, Blow paid back more than R16 million into Sunridge Spar’s bank account, bringing the outlet’s total loss suffered to R24 288 000.
Following his arrest, Blow applied for bail.
He said he could afford to pay R50 000, but after his bail application was denied by the Gqeberha Magistrate’s Court in April this year, he approached the high court in an attempt to have the ruling overturned.
In her judgment, Judge Vuyokazi Noncembu said she did not find any error on the part of the magistrate, who ruled that Blow should not be granted bail.
She referred to Blow’s recent successful application for an ancestry visa to the UK and said nothing was stopping him from fleeing the country, should he be granted bail.
Noncembu said:
In an affidavit in support of his application, Blow claimed that he was not planning on staying in the UK permanently, but only to work and make enough money to pay off his two overdraft accounts, which amount to more than R500 000.
He also put his two properties in Walmer up for sale, allegedly because his wife, a teacher, could not afford to pay the mortgage alone and needed a smaller place.
“The State’s case against the appellant is very strong, with the evidence based on a paper trail and bank statements. The charges against him are such that, if convicted, he faces a minimum of 15 years’ imprisonment on each count.
“There is no doubt this creates a very good incentive for one to attempt to evade trial,” Noncembu said.
Blow is set to appear in court again on Thursday.
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