Paul Watkins (36) appeared in the Soutpansbersg regional court on Monday on three charges of fraud.

According to court testimony, it all started with Watkins who received money to do debt collection and then mysteriously disappeared without a trace on 21 April, 2004.

Watkins offered his services as a debt collector to Mr Godfrey Went, the owner of LTT Bolt & Nut. As the business was owed a large sum of money by another company, the owner of Bolt & Nut agreed to the proposal. Both parties signed a contract whereby Watkins would receive a set fee once he had collected the outstanding amount. Watkins also requested a retainer fee in the amount of R80 496.10 to be paid upfront.

In court documents it is stated that later in the same month, the accused requested another amount of R35 000. The reason for this was apparently the fact that the company owing Bolt & Nut money had a boat that was being repossessed by a financial institution. Watkins told Mr Went that he had to pay the amount of R35 000 in order to release the boat so that it could be sold on auction to the value of R600 000. After receiving the money, he also offered his services for collecting debt from another company and requested an amount of R9 385 as a retainer fee. Watkins was paid on 21 April, 2004, and suddenly disappeared, leaving all information and contact numbers useless.

On 23 October Watkins was traced to Platjan Lodge at Alldays where he was arrested for fraud. After getting his girlfriend to pay the bail of R10 000, Watkins was released and appeared in court on January 24 this year. The court case was then postponed to April 3.

The last witness testified on Monday and the defence asked for a discharge in terms of section 174 of the criminal procedure act. The defence argued that there was no prima facie case and that the evidence against Watkins was inadequate for a conviction.

The court denied the request and called Watkins to the stand. Local prosecutor Mrs Mashudu Munzhelele cross-examined the accused who answered differently to the same question each time. Mrs Munzhelele then argued that it was clear to the court that the accused was lying.

As proceedings progressed, the accused either answered that he didn’t know or that he was unable to speak loudly because of bronchitis. He was found guilty, but sentencing was postponed to May 3 at the request of the defence in order to obtain a report from a social worker and a psychologist.

The State then requested for the accused to remain in custody. The court decided to set bail at R10 000.