Theft charges against Health Minister Nelson Bascome were likened to a "witch hunt" by his lawyer as he urged a Magistrate to clear his name yesterday.

Bascome, 52, stands accused of stealing a bank loan intended to start up a business by directing it into his own pockets instead. The total amount he is alleged to have "converted to his own use" in two separate charges is more than $60,000. He denies any wrongdoing.

Yesterday, at the close of the prosecution case, defence lawyer Charles Richardson urged Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner to throw the case out, claiming that prosecutor Paula Tyndale had failed to explain to the court who the victim of the alleged theft is supposed to be.

The loan in question, he claimed, was a personal loan to Bascome which was secured on his property and for which he was the only person responsible for repayment.

"He can't steal it from himself. That's always been our position. I feel like using words like 'witch hunt' but they don't fall well in a legal submission, so I'll move past that," he told Mr. Warner.

Mr. Richardson said there was no evidence from Bascome's former business partner Robert Smith, who testified for the Crown, that he was the victim as he was not aware of the loan. And, said Mr. Richardson, the bank has gone on record in a press release as saying that it does not consider itself to the victim of a theft.

Furthermore, Mr. Richardson — who is working alongside Victoria Pearman on the defence case — argued that the funds are not capable in law of being stolen by means of an illegal conversion to his own use in the way Ms Tyndale alleges.

The prosecutor is set to make her response in writing and Mr. Warner is expected to give his view on whether the case should continue when the court reconvenes on August 22.