Pensioner ‘victim of mistaken identity’

THE family of a British pensioner (pictured) who was arrested in South Africa on suspicion of being one of America’s most wanted criminals insisted yesterday that he was the victim of mistaken identity.

Derek Bond, 72, was on a wine-tasting holiday when he was detained two weeks ago on suspicion of a telemarketing scam in the United States.

The FBI yesterday said it was continuing to carry out checks on Mr Bond and believed he was the wanted man.

A photograph of a man bearing a resemblance to Mr Bond, circulated in March last year, appears on the Interpol website.

He is named as Derek Bond, with the alias Derek Lloyd Sykes, and is described as having blue eyes, weighing 160 pounds and being 1.77 metres tall. He is also described as wearing a toupee and his birth date is listed as January 26 1931.

Yesterday, his son Peter, 45, of Peterborough, said there had been a mistake.

He said: “We believe he is the victim of an identity fraud, where some person in the United States obtained details of his identity, including his passport number, and has used them for fraudulent purposes in the US.”

He said his father’s health had deteriorated since his ordeal began and the family was growing increasingly concerned.

“He was arrested while on holiday as a result of a warrant issued by the FBI,” he said.

He said Mr Bond had agreed to be extradited to the US on legal advice, in order to get the problem sorted out quickly, but he was still being held in Durban’s main police station more than two weeks after being arrested. Retired businessman Mr Bond, from Bristol, had flown to the country with his wife Audrey on holiday.

Son Peter said: “He is receiving moral support from family, friends and the British consulate.

“The South African police are being reasonably helpful and are aware that he is the wrong man on the basis of the evidence provided at his extradition hearing. The FBI and American embassy, however, are being less helpful and have not even bothered to interview him until Monday because they were not apparently aware that he was denying the charges, even though he had agreed to extradition.”

Peter said that his 70-year-old mother was staying in a hotel near where his father was held, but had limited access to him. “We’re very concerned about the well-being of our father and angry that he is being held without charge in difficult circumstances at the behest of the FBI on the basis of evidence that is apparently untenable.

“The situation is entirely unacceptable, but our immediate concern is to secure the safe release of our father,” he said.

Peter Bond said that he was not clear exactly what crime his father was being accused of.

He said: “All we know is that it is to do with fraud.

“Certainly at this end we do not know the extent of the charges.”

Peter said that he thought the criminal was one of the FBI’s most wanted after seeing the name on a website list dated 2000.

Mr Bond’s daughter Gillian, 46, a geologist from Norwich, flew out to South Africa around 10 days ago after hearing of her father’s detention.