Peet Viljoen denied bail in R27.6m JPC fraud case

Disbarred lawyer and reality TV personality Peet Viljoen has been denied bail by the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.

Viljoen appeared in court on Monday, 17 August, as the court delivered its decision on his bail application.

He faces about 400 charges, including fraud, theft, corruption, forgery and uttering, linked to an alleged R27.6 million Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) fraud scheme.

Viljoen was arrested at OR Tambo International Airport on 16 June after being deported from the United States.

He previously appeared in court on 24 July, when his legal team applied for bail.

His lawyer, Andre Steenkamp, argued that Viljoen was not a flight risk because he had voluntarily returned to South Africa despite knowing that he would be arrested.

The defence had proposed bail of R200,000, with Viljoen also offering to remain under house arrest at his sister’s home in Olympus, Pretoria, and report to police daily if ordered to do so.

However, the prosecution strongly opposed bail, arguing that Viljoen was a flight risk and that his release would not be in the interests of justice.