Johannesburg - The trial of mining magnate Roger Kebble is to go ahead after he was charged with 38 counts of fraud and contravention of the Companies Act yesterday.
A fighting-fit Kebble continued to deny the charges, which relate to his time as chairman at Durban Roodepoort Deep (DRD), vowing to seek a high court order to have them set aside.
Kebble and his son Brett, the chief executive of JCI, confirmed this week that they were finalising a damages action worth more than R1 billion against DRD and its chief executive, Mark Wellesley-Wood.
"It seems the prosecuting authority has realised it has got itself into a world of trouble by proceeding with this case in the first place," Kebble said last night.
"If it backs down now, it and all the people involved will face massive claims for damages."
Kebble was not charged at the time of his arrest more than nine months ago.
He believes he now faces "trumped-up charges of fraud" after "an exasperated magistrate finally gave the state an ultimatum to produce a charge sheet or drop the case".
The criminal case stems from Kebble's failure to disclose his relationship to Skilled Labour Brokers, a close corporation contracted to DRD and registered in Kebble's name.
Skilled Labour Brokers provided DRD with risk and security services for almost seven years.
Kebble was released on R250 000 bail after spending the night in Edenvale holding cells last November.
Former judge Willem Heath and Gobodo Forensic & Investigative Accounting were hired by the Kebbles late last year to get to the bottom of the "dirty tricks" campaign they believed was being waged against them.
The Johannesburg commercial crimes court granted a postponement to February 2 so that the defence could prepare its case.