After a long period on the run, the 62-year-old Kevin Mark de Klerk reappeared in the Sibasa Regional Court on 10 November.
De Klerk was rearrested in Cape Town om 8 November. His co-accused, Mark Harold Powell, however, has not yet been arrested.
De Klerk and Powell were owners of the NEWSA Multiplication Scheme in Thohoyandou. They were arrested by the Scorpions in 2006 for fraud and money laundering.
After a protracted trial in the Sibasa Regional Court, the two were finally found guilty in 2013 and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for defrauding former Venda government employees and pensioners out of about R42 million.
After being sentenced, De Klerk and Powell were granted leave to appeal and their bail was extended. Instead of prosecuting the appeal, however, the two disappeared to Cape Town and operated other businesses.
De Klerk finally started serving his 15-year prison sentence on 10 November after his court appearance. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) welcomed the sentence. "What we always wanted was for justice to be done for the victims to find closure," said the NPA's Adv Ivy Thenga. She also commended Adv Patrick Nkuna for the hard work done over the years. "Indeed, this is a true case of the 'long arm of the law'", said Thenga.