WP Athletics' Allen Barnes to appear again on fraud charge after going missing

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Cape Town – Western Province Athletics (WPA) official Allen Barnes, who was previously reported missing, is due to make a second court appearance on January 20 on a fraud charge. The 53-year-old Barnes, who was reported missing on January 4, was arrested on January 10 in Gauteng, where he also made a brief court appearance on Monday, Western Cape police spokesperson Colonel Andre Traut said on Thursday. "The circumstances surrounding a fraud case reported to Sea Point police are being investigated," Traut said. Last week, WP Athletics said “irregularities” had been uncovered since Barnes was reported missing. “As a board we have found irregularities since Mr Barnes’s disappearance and we are conducting a full investigation into the matter,” WP Athletics president Jakes Jacobs said.

The WP Athletics finance officer was reported missing after he had failed to attend an athletics event in Strandfontein. He was expected at Strandfontein Pavilion at 4am to prepare for the Stragglers Athletics Club event.

He had left his Bothasig residence at 3am in a silver Toyota Corolla which belongs to his fiancée. The car was recovered the following day at Cape Town International Airport and the search for Barnes was expanded to Johannesburg.

"It is believed that he may have been at Grand West Casino after leaving his residence and before the vehicle was left at Cape Town International," police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said last week.

The Herald reported that WP Athletics had opened a fraud case against him and had called for a special general meeting on February 6 for Barnes to be recalled from its structures and to look into possible non-compliance of its corporate procedures.

Cape Times