Convicted fraudster Jeff Levenstein‚ who was in charge of Regal Bank before it collapsed in 2001‚ wants to serve the rest of his prison sentence under house arrest. Levenstein‚ 64‚ founder and former chief executive of the now-defunct Regal Treasury Private Bank‚ applied in the high court in Johannesburg on Wednesday to have his sentence converted to correctional supervision‚ but he must wait two weeks to hear his fate.Levenstein was found guilty in 2009 on several counts of fraud and contravening the Companies Act and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment but the Supreme Court of Appeal reduced his sentence to eight years in 2013.He has been behind bars for about two years.Levenstein's defence attorney Manny Witz said his client had lost more than 20kg while in prison because his diet as a religious Orthodox Jew was quite strict.He said Levenstein suffered from depression and had also undergone emergency surgery because of his declining health.Witz said Levenstein had participated in prison activities and this was a sign of his rehabilitation. He said Levenstein had contributed to a prison library and sponsored a gym at the Zonderwater prison‚ east of Pretoria.But Judge Naren Pandya said prison was not a pleasant place‚ depression was inevitable and it should not be the lone factor in considering release.“If that was a determining agent‚ then you would have to release all the prisoners suffering from depression‚” said Pandya.The parole board also submitted a report supporting Levenstein's application for correctional supervision.But prosecutor Paul Schutte said reports by a social worker and a psychologist showed that Levenstein had no remorse and intellectualised his crimes.Schutte said there was no factual proof that Levenstein had undergone emergency surgery. He also said Levenstein's participation in prison activities did not mean he was rehabilitated‚ but was rather a sign that the correctional service succeeded in integrating him into the system.He said Levenstein also had the option of applying for medical parole if his health was deteriorating.Schutte said the parole board had merely considered whether Levenstein was a fitting candidate for correctional supervision but should have focused on whether correctional supervision was fitting as a punishment for Levenstein's crimes.The matter was postponed to December 17. – TMG Digital/TMG Courts and Law..