Cape Town – The state has been given leave to appeal a Cape Town magistrate’s decision to grant bail to former Fidentia boss Arthur Brown.

In a ruling handed down yesterday, Cape High Court Judge Roger Cleaver found the magistrate had “misdirected himself”, or erred, in several respects.

“In my view, the state has satisfied us that it enjoys a reasonable prospect of success on appeal,” he said.

The state is seeking to overturn the R10000 bail granted to Brown in the Antheru Trust case in October last year. Brown has been charged in that matter with fraud involving about R700000. It argued he was a flight risk and should be taken back in custody.

Cleaver said the magistrate had found Brown and his attorney had made contact with Antheru head Herman Heydenrych, knowing he was a state witness.

The Antheru matter is one of three separate criminal cases against Brown. – Sapa