Financial woes befall Scheepers

Paul Scheepers

Paul Scheepers

Published Sep 27, 2016

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SUSPENDED crime intelligence police officer Paul Scheepers pleaded poverty in the Bellville Commercial Crimes Court yesterday, asking that his trial for fraud, perjury and contravening the Electronic Communications Act be delayed so he can resolve his financial woes.

Yesterday, the court heard Scheeepers could not pay his legal representatives after being arrested in May last year and, for that reason, work on his defence in the matter was delayed.

The State alleges he illegally operated as a private detective, illegally obtained warrants to access cellphone records, and illegally imported and sold an IMSI “grabber” which can surreptitiously intercept cellphone communications.

Last year, Scheepers, seeking the return of his electronic equipment in the Western Cape High Court, alleged that a high-ranking police officer was regularly meeting gang bosses and facilitating their drug trade. Premier Helen Zille latched on to the allegations, hinting that Scheepers’s claims could prove cops were deliberately destabilising the Western Cape. Scheepers lost his court application.

Yesterday, senior prosecutor Thersia du Toit-Smit told magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg the State had been prepared to go to trial as early as April this year, but Scheepers’ defence had demanded additional documents from the State.

“The matter was postponed on the previous occasion (June 28) for a pre-trial (conference). In that process the defence also informed the State that they would make representations to the national director of public prosecutions and to our office.

“This did not occur, so we are today in a position where I have been informed there are problems with financial instructions.”

Scheepers’s lawyer, Steven Barker, conceded there had been no correspondence from Scheepers’ previous lawyers to the State
prosecutor.

Sonnenberg said she would postpone the case to November 10, and called on Scheepers to apply for legal aid if he could not come up with funds to finance his defence.

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