HARDLY a month after he was jailed for five years for failing to comply with conditions of his suspended sentence, Port Elizabeth businessman Jacobus Meyer was released on R20000 bail yesterday.

Meyer, 58, owner of Sunshine Coast Consultant CC – a company that specialised in micro-lending – was jailed for five years after being found guilty on April 19, 2006, of contravening the Banking Act for illegally conducting a micro-lending business.

The amount involved was R5278569.

In terms of the plea bargain agreement reached between the state and the defence then, Meyer was sentenced to a fine of R100000 or 400 days in jail. On top of that, the court imposed a five-year suspended sentence, with the condition that investors be reimbursed with interest.

But, from January this year, Meyer was unable to keep up with a total monthly repayment of R140000, which was shared among his 116 investors.

It was estimated that R3,5-million was still outstanding.

Last month, a Port Elizabeth magistrate ordered that the suspended sentence come into operation after he failed to comply with the bail condition.

His defence contended Meyer had over-paid the investors, who now owed him R4-million.

Last week, defence attorney Danie Gouws brought an application to have Meyer released on bail pending the outcome of the High Court review application.

Meyer was released on R20000 bail yesterday.

This is the second time in the past four months that Meyer has been released on bail in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court involving a similar amount.

He was re-arrested on August 18 this year for failing to adhere to the terms of the suspended sentence, but was later released on R20000 bail.

Prior to the commission of the offence, Meyer owned a successful business that specialised in micro-lending. He received huge sums of money from members of the public which he invested on their behalf with a promise of huge returns. Between 1999 and 2002, Meyer received an estimated R28-million from unsuspecting investors.

He was compelled to sell the business to Johannesburg listed company Bondmaster.

The profit from the sale was meant to pay out investors, but he claims he never received the entire amount. He is instituting a civil claim against Bondmaster.