Interpol on hunt for Bobroffs

FATHER AND SON: RONALD AND DARREN ON LIST OF THE WORLD’S MOST WANTED FUGITIVES

Tony Beamish

Disgraced and disbarred father and son attorneys Ronald and Darren Bobroff are on a list of the worlds’ most wanted fugitives after Interpol issued Red Notices for their arrest.

The duo were partners in and directors of personal injury law firm Ronald Bobroff & Partners (RBP) in Rosebank, Gauteng. They fled South Africa in 2016 before they could stand trial on charges of fraud and theft. They currently reside in the upmarket Sydney suburb of St Ives in Australia.

The Red Notices were issued back in 2016, but it only emerged this week that they were issued.

In response to questions, Interpol said a Red Notice is just posted on the Interpol website if asked by the requesting country.

A Red Notice is a request to locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Luvuyo Mfaku told Moneyweb that the formal extradition process for the Bobroffs would start shortly.

“We are awaiting the final forensic audit report before we can finalise the charge sheet and start the extradition process,” he said.

The Red Notices state that the Bobroffs are fugitives wanted for fraud.

The notices read for both individuals: “It is alleged that the suspect committed fraud in that cheques were made out to clients of the firm Ronald Bobroff & Partners Inc as if they were the beneficiaries of said cheques, when said cheques were in actual fact paid into their own or other family member’s bank accounts.”

Moneyweb sent the Red Notices to the Bobroffs requesting their comment. They responded through their local attorney John Cameron, who said the Interpol Red Notices “constitutes an abuse of the process of law” and that “the facts upon which Interpol issued the notices are not only extremely vague but are lacking in substantiation and factual content”.

Cameron further invited Moneyweb “to indicate exactly who was defrauded, when they were defrauded and the extent (in monetary terms) of the frauds arising from the cheques that were allegedly issued, and which are referred to in the notices”.

The notices probably refer to a case related to one of the Bobroffs’ former clients, Filipe Pombo.

He was referred to in a 136-page audit report submitted by the Law Society of the Northern Provinces in an application to the Pretoria High Court to have the Bobroffs struck from the roll of attorneys.

A cheque in the amount of R115 599 was made out to Pombo as part settlement of a Road Accident Fund payout.

However, this cheque was not paid out to Pombo; it was paid into the personal bank account of Darren Bobroff.

Tony Beamish is a specialist court reporter, and investigative journalist at Carte Blanche.