Brussels, Belgium

Belgian bank KBC on Thursday stood accused of aiding the sale of military equipment to South Africa during the apartheid era.

Jorge Pinhol, a former race-car driver turned businessman and self-proclaimed middle man in the deal, has filed a complaint against KBC and its Luxembourg unit KBL, seeking $600-million in unpaid fees.

A first -- purely formal -- hearing was held on Thursday at a Brussels commercial court, according to Pinhol's lawyer, Mischael Modrikamen.

The complex case dates back to the mid-1980s when South Africa was subject to an arms embargo on account of the racist regime in power at the time.

Pinhol, according to his lawyer, facilitated the sale of French-made Super Puma helicopters, which were transported through Portugal and were said to be for civil uses such as rescue at sea.

He claims he was promised a commission for his role in the deal, which was one of many South Africa signed at the time. A total of more than $10-billion in sales were made for military equipment, according to Pinhol.

Citing recently revealed confidential documents, Pinhol and his lawyer claim that the deals were made possible by a web of front companies that KBC and KBL set up in tax havens.

"The banks created hundreds of offshore companies providing administrators that were chosen among its employees," Modrikamen said. "You can't set up that sort of system without taking responsibility."

KBC considers that all rules were respected and said it would launch a counter-case.

A date for the next hearing has not been set. -- Sapa-AFP

With acknowledgements to Sapa and Mail and Guardian.