by Abhik Kumar Chanda
JOHANNESBURG, Aug 26 (AFP) - Mark Thatcher, the son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, was preparing to flee South Africa for Texas when he was arrested and charged with funding a coup plot in Equatorial Guinea, investigators told AFP Thursday.
Thatcher, 51, a millionaire businessman, was planning a hasty exit with his Texan heiress wife when investigators swooped down on his luxurious home in Cape Town early Wednesday and searched the premises, said Makhosini Nkosi, a spokesman for the Scorpions elite investigating unit.
"There were suitcases and trunks strewn all over the place, he was clearly packing his bags. He said his wife and two children were leaving for the United States on Monday and he was going to relocate at a later date.
"He said he was planning to go to Texas in pursuit of a better life," Nkosi told AFP.
Thatcher`s mock Tudor six-bedroom mansion is located in the upscale Cape Town quarter of Constantia, which is home to the rich and noble including Earl Spencer, brother of the late Princess Diana.
Investigators said Thatcher had sold four luxury vehicles, put his house on the market for 22 million rand (3.3 million dollars/ 2.7 million euros) and enrolled his children in American schools for the start of the new academic year in September.
Prosecutor Torie Pretorius from the Priority Criminal Investigation Unit told AFP that Thatcher had put up 275,000 dollars (227,000 euros) to topple President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the long-serving ruler of the central African nation, where huge oil reserves were discovered recently.
It remained unclear whether Thatcher could serve time in jail if convicted on charges of violating South Africa`s Foreign Military Assistance Act, aimed at stamping out mercenary activity.
"It could be a fine or a jail sentence. There is no maximum limit ... it depends from case to case," said Pretorius.
Thatcher`s arrest came just hours before British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw arrived in Cape Town, leading the biggest delegation ever to South Africa for two days of talks aimed at putting relations with Pretoria on a stronger footing.
Scorpions spokesman Nkosi insisted the timing was an "unfortunate coincidence."
"We conduct our investigations and arrests completely independently of the department of foreign affairs, we do not tell them we are planning to arrest so and so, is anybody coming?
"In any case, Mr Thatcher is an ordinary resident of South Africa. He is not royalty nor is he an ex-head of state," Nkosi said.
Straw meanwhile dodged questions from journalists on the affair during an address in Cape Town, merely saying that "no one has the right to destabilise Africa."
"He is entitled to consular assistance as a British citizen. The outcome of that assistance is always confidential," he added.
Thatcher maintained his innocence late Wednesday, saying he was not behind the plot to overthrow Nguema.
"I am innocent of all charges made against me. I have been and am cooperating fully with the authorities in order to resolve the matter," he said in a statement released by his spokesman Lord Bell.
A Cape Town court on Wednesday set bail at two million rand and fixed November 25 as the date for the next court appearance.
Thatcher was released after his lawyers assured the court he would post bail by September 8 but was asked to surrender his passport and any air tickets in his possession.
Thatcher has been linked to one of the alleged masterminds of the coup plot, Simon Mann, who is currently on trial in Zimbabwe in connection with the attempt to topple Nguema.
Mann, who is also Thatcher`s neighbour, and 69 other men were arrested in Harare in March over the alleged plot at about the same time as 15 other suspected foreign mercenaries were detained in Malabo, accused of being the advance party for the operation.
On Wednesday, the South African leader of the suspected coup plotters on trial in Equatorial Guinea, Nick du Toit, admitted to having met Thatcher in July 2003 to discuss the sale of helicopters for mining operations in Sudan.