A CAPE TOWN car dealer claims former Gauteng Hawks boss Shadrack Sibiya misrepresented himself at a meeting in Cape Town to resolve a squabble over the ownership of an expensive Mercedes-Benz S65.
Nafiz Modak says he bought the car from Johannesburg dealer Mohamed Khan “in early July”.
Two weeks ago, he received notice from Sibiya for a sit-down meeting to discuss handing over the car.
Sibiya, now working as a private investigator, was appointed by Johannesburg’s Ian Levitt Attorneys, on instruction by Laurence Hodes SC, to get the vehicle back to its owner, Linda Ines Gieskes, the daughter of controversial Congolese businessman Jean Norbert Mwamba.
In an affidavit, Giekes, a candidate attorney who lives with her father in the luxury Dainfern golf estate, asserts her ownership of the car, saying she left it in the care of her father.
“During June this year my father was approached by one Mohamed Khan, who indicated he could obtain a high price for the vehicle with a view to using some towards a Maybach Mercedes.
“Khan indicated to my father that he would have to take possession of the vehicle to obtain offers,” wrote Gieskes.
But they never heard from Khan again, and on August 14 Mwamba laid a complaint of theft with the police after the car was tracked to Cape Town.
“To my surprise, the vehicle had been transferred into the name of Yaseen Modak, a person I had never met or spoken to. I never signed any transfer documents for the vehicle,” wrote Gieskes in her statement.
A meeting was then set up with Nafiz Modak, along with his counsel, Pete Mihalik, at the One & Only Hotel on September 11.
Both Modak and Sibiya have different recollections of the event.
Sibiya, fired last year as head of the Hawks in Gauteng, ostensibly for the illegal rendition of Zimbabweans, says Western Cape police officers are aiding underworld figures, the case of the missing Mercedes being just one such instance.
“Modak has no right to have that car registered in his name. The owner never sold the car,” said Sibiya.
Mihalik would not speak to the Cape Times when contacted for comment.
Modak says he bought the car in “early July” from Khan.
"I told the fake general (Sibiya) that he would get f***-all car back after he introduced himself as a Hawks boss,” said Modak.
A 2012 Mercedes S65 usually retails in the region of R700 000, depending on its mileage.
Modak says he will only part with the Mercedes for R850 0000 as “it’s a clean car”.
He said the car was handed to Khan as a deposit on a bulletproof Mercedes-Benz S600 Maybach, which retails for around R6 million.
“But he failed to come up with the balance of the money. If he comes up with the money, then the deal is still on,” said Modak.