The multi-million rand moneyweb of alleged underworld kingpin, Nafiz Modack, has started to unravel at the Western Cape High Court as the Hawks poked holes in the story of his alleged money man.
Captain Edward Du Plessis returned to the witness stand on Monday where he appeared min gespin about the defence’s presentation of alleged invoices between Modack and his co-accused, Ricardo Morgan.
Last week Judge Robert Henney postponed the case in order for Morgan to produce invoices which could allegedly exonerate him in the mammoth underworld trial centred around the murder of slain Anti-Gang Unit detective Charl Kinnear.
Morgan is at the centre of multi-million rand transactions involving the Empire Investments bank account which the state contends was used by Modack and his co-accused to launder money gained through extortion, and used to pay for the cellphone pinging services of Zane Killian.
The childhood friend of Modack was busted several years ago after allegedly trying to dodge Hawks officers as they scrutinised bank accounts linked to Empire Investments.
Morgan’s lawyer, Scanlyn Collins, claimed Morgan hired out larney cars owned by Modack to private clients, and would make payments into the Empire Investments account.
He also said Morgan had gone into business with Modack during the Covid pandemic selling protective gear such as masks and sanitisers, as car sales and hires were slow.
But Du Plessis accused Morgan of fabricating the invoices over the weekend to align with the evidence presented by the Hawks.
“He could not have known what the credit reference was,” the cop stated.
Henney also questioned how the business transactions on the accounts only reflected round totals.
Du Plessis questioned the validity of the invoices as they were not in line with SARS requirements and provided no details of the service or products being invoiced for.
Morgan further claimed he paid Killian as instructed by Modack but had no idea what the payments were for, despite Killian earlier informing the courts that he was paid by Morgan for the pings he conducted on the phones of Kinnear and others, including attorney William Booth.
Du Plessis said: “So everyone is just distancing themselves from the Empire account but they have all confirmed that it was used by accused 1 [Modack].”
monique.duval@inl.co.za