[imagesource: : Jaco Marais / News24]

In December 2014, former Fidentia Group founder and boss J Arthur Brown was sentenced to 15 years behind bars.

Brown was found guilty on two charges of fraud, but that doesn’t really do the scale of his crimes justice.

In total, before the walls came crumbling down, Fidentia managed investment funds that totalled billions of rands, with just north of R1 billion disappearing.

That money vanished from a trust that paid money from a provident fund to widows and orphans of workers killed in mine accidents.

Brown was released on parole yesterday, with some interesting fashion choices – that’s him above.

I would have added an extra month to his sentence on charges of possession of a haircut and shirt unbefitting of a 51-year-old, but I’m not sure that would hold up in court.

When he was first charged, Brown maintained his innocence, and even ventured into Khayelitsha to meet with “about 70 former Fidentia investors, most of them elderly and tottering on walking sticks”.

TimesLIVE says he received a hero’s welcome:

Brown assured the crowd he had not stolen their money and that the guilty verdict against him was not related to enriching himself at their expense.

Image: Jaco Marais / News24

He said he had come to Khayelitsha to request their help in pursing legal action against the real culprits, who had earned huge amounts because of the Fidentia saga.

Come parole time, he has had a change of heart.

“Remorseful” is the word chosen by the department of correctional services, which announced his release yesterday.

Here’s department spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo:

“Brown takes responsibility for the offences he committed and is remorseful. Having completed all the identified programmes as per his correctional sentence plan, Brown was assessed and reports by specialists recommended parole placement.”

…“Brown will complete the remainder of the sentence in the system of community corrections, whereby he is expected to comply with a specific set of conditions and will be subjected to supervision until his sentence expires on December 2 2028,” said Nxumalo.

It’s reported that Brown was transported from the correctional department’s offices in Cape Town to his home in Blouberg.

He will live there with his second wife, Annelize.

IOL reports that his first wife, Susan, “flew to Australia on April 25, 2008 with their two sons after a warrant for her arrest was also issued on April 3”.

Part of his parole may involve a “victim offender dialogue programme” that reaches out to his secondary victims.

One gets the feeling he won’t be hailed as a hero this time around.

[sources:timeslive&iol]