Pensioner held on word of FBI is released

A BRITISH pensioner who was imprisoned in South Africa after the FBI mistook him for a dangerous fugitive broke down in tears as he told yesterday of his “enormous relief” at being released.

Derek Bond, a 72-year-old from Bristol, said his constant protestations of innocence “made little impact” on the FBI, which ordered his detention.

His voice quivering with emotion he told a news conference: “I was getting quite despondent.”

Mr Bond was arrested while on a wine-tasting holiday and held at a police station in Durban for nearly three weeks, but he was released after the US Attorney’s Office admitted: “We got the wrong man.”

Mr Bond said he had no real criticisms of the South African police, but felt he was owed “a great deal more than an apology” from the FBI. He added that he was considering a claim for compensation against the FBI.

“If I have any criticism at all, it’s of the lack of action by the FBI. I was arrested on their warrant,” he said. “We first arrived in South Africa on January 27 and we were held for seven hours at Cape Town while the facts of the arrest were reported to the FBI, and the FBI did not respond at all.

“The first response we had from the FBI was about 10 days after I came into South Africa.”

In an emotional press conference, Mr Bond, with his wife at his side, broke down at one point, when he mentioned his grandchildren.

He said he now knew that the FBI file on him was “at least four years old”.

“In March 2002, a red card was attached to this file which means that I was a top wanted suspect,” he said.

Mr Bond said there was “every possibility” that he could make a claim for compensation: “I will need to take advice from my lawyers but there does seem to be a justified claim.”

His release came after the FBI arrested a man thought to be the real suspect, accused of fraud and money laundering, in Las Vegas last night after an anonymous tip-off from a man with a British accent. Agents had been hunting a suspect known by the names of Derek Bond and Derek Lloyd Sykes, who had the same date of birth and passport number as the retired businessman. The Interpol website said the wanted man “may be dangerous” and listed his offences as property conspiracy, fraud conspiracy and money laundering.

Meanwhile, FBI agents have offer a $1 million reward for help in catching one of America’s most wanted men.

James “Whitey” Bulger is on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” list and his picture appears next to Osama Bin Laden’s on the bureau’s website.

Agents believe the Irish American gangster, who went missing in 1995, may be hiding in London or elsewhere in Britain. He is wanted in the US for 19 murders, extortion, racketeering and money laundering and agents appealed for public help on the BBC’s Crimewatch UK programme last night.