Goodbye to Bobroff millions

END OF THE ROAD: NOWHERE FOR FATHER, SON FUGITIVES TO TURN AFTER APPEAL DISMISSED

Stashed R103m in Israeli bank accounts after allegedly overcharging clients.

Fugitive father and son duo Ronald and Darren Bobroff have forfeited R95 million to the South African government after the Constitutional Court dismissed their last remaining option to continue their fight to get the money back.

The court dismissed their application for leave to appeal against an earlier Supreme Court of Appeal judgment which found the money was the proceeds of crime and should remain frozen.

The ruling means the Bobroffs have exhausted all of their legal options and have consequently forfeited the money to the state.

In response, the Bobroffs, through their lawyer Richard Spoor, have maintained their innocence and said the judgment “cements a manifest injustice that was done to my clients”.

Spoor added the Bobroffs are more than willing to return to South Africa to stand trial if the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) guarantees they will not be arrested and held in custody during legal proceedings.

The case dates back to March 2016, when the Bobroffs fled to Australia after the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation issued warrants for their arrest.

They were to face numerous criminal charges – including theft, fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion – related to their overcharging of clients, many of them badly injured and vulnerable victims of road accidents.

It seems the Bobroffs stashed R103 million in two Israeli bank accounts over many years. Israeli authorities froze the accounts in 2017 after Ronald Bobroff tried to make a withdrawal, as Interpol had issued red notices for their arrests a year earlier.

The Bobroffs appealed against the seizure of the funds in 2021, but the Supreme Court confirmed that R95 million of the money was indeed the proceeds of crime and should remain frozen.

The Bobroffs then approached the Constitutional Court for leave to appeal, which was dismissed in February.

NPA spokesperson advocate Mthunzi Mhaga said due to the absence of an extradition treaty with Australia, “it is highly unlikely that they will ever stand trial in South Africa”.