A former client of top criminal lawyer, William Booth, told a court he had forgiven the men who had threatened to rape and kill him.
The State witness lifted the lid on extortion tactics used by the henchman of alleged underworld kingpin, Nafiz Modack.
The fearful witness who fled to Dubai following a string of incidents dating back to 2020, said he called Booth for help after Modack’s co-accused, Jacques Cronje, showed up at his home to demand payments allegedly owed to an affiliate of Modack.
The witness testified via camera, and could be seen wearing a white salaah top and red turban.
He said he is an asset manager and came under attack from Cronje amid an investment dispute.
He said in 2018 he met Modack affillate Shanil Maharaj, who invested R545 000 in what was deemed a ‘high risk investment’.
He claimed Maharaj had requested a strategy change which resulted in a quick loss, and then became angry and demanded his money back.
The witness said: “He was banging on the desk and told me I turned his whole life upside down. I told him it was a high risk investment signed by both parties and I also took a loss.”
He said Maharaj sent him a barrage of threatening messages, as well as texts to relatives and friends, calling him a skelm.
Maharaj allegedly warned that ‘Hells Angels’ were coming to collect the money.
The witness said he later mentored a young man, Imaad Modack who told him about a potential investor, ‘Ziyaad’, who wanted to meet him at the Crystal Towers Hotel, the same place where Nafiz Modack was known to live.
But instead, Cronje and three others allegedly arrived and told him they were there to collect the R2.5 million owed to a man named ‘Namaste’.
The witness said Cronje took instructions via a cellphone from a man only identified as “The Boss”.
The witness said he was forced to transfer R90 000 to a bank account provided by Cronje and forced into an agreement to pay the other funds.
He later opened criminal cases after seeking legal advice from Booth and said stones were subsequently thrown at his home in Claremont and he was moved to a safe house.
He further testified that Cronje had sent him a string of threatening messages.
One of the messages reads: “You can have your meeting with the Pope. Please call your doctor to be on standby every day. John Wick is coming to say hello. Do the right thing.”
In another message the witness is seemingly threatened with rape.
It reads: “Sit down and look at your left hand, look carefully at it. Please do the EFT. I don't want to be that stupid person you don’t want to meet. I forgot that you must also have Vaseline.”
The witness said after four days of extortion attempts he applied for protection orders and later received a text warning him of a plan to kill his entire family and telling him not to ‘f*** with the mafia’.
He was also sent pictures of his in-laws whom he was told would be killed first, and that there was a bounty of R200 000 offered to anyone willing to kill them.
The witness also read text messages of a bounty of R100 000 on his head if he had failed to pay.
He added: “It was time for me and my family to pack my bags and leave town.”
He then told the court that he had forgiven Cronje and Maharaj, who had texted him to ask maaf.
Booth is expected to testify after his client. The trial continues.