Murder accused not involved in business plans, says lawyer

MURDER accused Kristina Adler did not have any insight into documents submitted to the Department of Home Affairs to start a business in South Africa, and falsified forms were allegedly completed by her co-accused, Jens Leunberg, the Port Elizabeth High Court heard yesterday.

Adler, 38, and her common law husband Leunberg, 36, are both charged with two counts of fraud and the murder of Jeffreys Bay businessman Claus Schroeder.

While Schroeder’s body has never been found, the state is alleging that the German couple murdered him in August 2009 after he went to confront them regarding unpaid occupational rent for a farm he had sold them in Thornhill.

The charges of fraud are related to falsified documents and banking details they used when applying for travel documents and business permits in South Africa.

-Lee-Anne Butler