Accountant Ian Pierce, who is on trial for allegedly failing to cooperate with a Scorpion investigation into a multibillion-rand arms deal, is expected to know his fate today when judgment is handed down.

Pierce is a director and major shareholder of Futuristic Business Solutions (FBS) which is also a shareholder in African Defence Systems (ADS) the company at the centre of an investigation into alleged attempts by Deputy President Jacob Zuma to secure a R500 000-a-year bribe from Thomson-CSF (since renamed Thales).

Thomson, a French defence conglomerate and ADS, were part of a German consortium chosen to supply SA with four new corvette warships.

Details of the allegations against Zuma are contained in a confidential affidavit filed in August last year by senior Scorpions prosecutor William Downer and were published last month by the Mail & Guardian.

Pierce appeared in the commercial crimes court yesterday on charges of ignoring a summons to appear before investigators, giving false evidence on the whereabouts of FBS's financial documents and failure to provide cash books and ledgers for the period from 1996 to date.

The first charge related to Pierce allegedly ignoring a summons to appear before a Scorpions' investigating director on July 10 last year, and failing to provide requested books and documents.

Piece was also charged with giving false evidence to the investigating director on December 11, when he allegedly stated that the documents were with the auditors, and with failing to produce cash books, ledgers and other documents on the same date.

David Feldman, appearing for Pierce, asked that the case be dismissed because of lack of evidence. He said Pierce never received the first summons to appear in July last year and once he received the second summons did his best to provide the requested documents.

Feldman said the complete cash books were with the auditors as Pierce had testified and had been taken by investigators months before.

Dries van Rensburg for the prosecution, said there was no evidence that Pierce had done anything to furnish the required documents.

"Some documents were handed in but none were complete it was only after the accused (Pierce) was arrested that the state began receiving documents," he said.

The Scorpions are believed to be looking for evidence of a hidden beneficial interest by Zuma in ADS and are investigating the possibility it might be through ADS's minority shareholders which include Schabir Shaik's Nkobi group and FBS. Zuma and Shaik have denied the allegations.

Pierce was originally summonsed to appear for an "(investigation) into corruption in the arms industry".

With acknowledgements to Chantelle Benjamin and Business Day.