R103m seized from fugitive lawyer Ronald Bobroff and son

The Assert Forfeiture Unit (AFU) has seized R103m which was held in two Israeli bank accounts belonging to controversial lawyer Ronald Bobroff and his son, Darren.

Ronald and Darren allegedly fleeced Road Accident Fund victims out of millions of rand. They are reportedly living it up in Australia, despite international arrest warrants issued for them.

The Bobroffs fled South Africa in 2016, days before they were to hand themselves over to the Hawks to be arrested.

According to a statement issued by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Monday, the forfeiture order was granted in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crimes Act, which provides that “property that is used to commit crime can be forfeited to the state”.

“The Israeli authorities initially froze the money in the bank accounts after they became suspicious about transactions being conducted on the accounts by the Bobroffs,” the NPA said in a statement.

“The court found that, in all probability, the money in bank accounts represents proceeds of unlawful activities... and that the Bobroffs, in all probability, laundered funds of their clients into the accounts in Israel,” the law enforcement agency continued.

The Bobroffs have filed a notice for leave to appeal the judgment, the NPA said, adding that the money has been kept in a safe pending the outcome of the appeal.