A British fraudster who spent five years hiding in Cape Town appeared in court in the UK yesterday after being extradited.

Raymond Nevitt, 52, was sentenced to three years and nine months in jail in 2008 for embezzling more than R80-million. His fraud involved deceiving creditors such as IBM and Barclays into financing his Ravelle Group.

He skipped the UK in 2006 and used a fake passport to travel to Spain, Thailand and then South Africa. He was arrested in May.

On his arrival in the UK a judge granted him bail.

The judge agreed not to extend his sentence as he had spent nine months in jail in Cape Town.

Nevitt's lawyer, Nick Freeman, said: "He's been living in a hellhole in Pollsmoor, with 70 inmates in one room, 40 mattresses, one shower and one lavatory, neither of which worked properly. He's relieved to be back on home soil."