Judge slams NPA over handling of Fidentia trial

Appeal Judge Mahomed Navsa said the matter had taken on 'almost farcical proportions'. The NPA sent heavyweight Advocate Billy Downer SC to the SCA to appeal for a harsher sentence for Brown's fraud, money-laundering and corruption convictions. But before Downer could argue, Navsa said the question that needed to be posed was whether the state had failed in its duty towards the investors who had lost millions. 'It seems as if the state gets overwhelmed by the corporate world in commercial crime investigations,' Navsa commented, according to the report. He used a discussion between the trial prosecutor, Jannie van Vuuren SC, and the trial judge, Anton Veldhuizen, as an example. Van Vuuren had said he didn't have access to the Internet to look up a technical point and the law library was closed. 'I mean, come on, it is almost the juridical equivalent of the Keystone Cops,' Navsa said. Downer said Brown's sentence was shockingly inappropriate as the losses amounted to hundreds of millions. Judgment was reserved. Full Volksblad report