Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir's lawyers were meeting on Thursday morning following reports of a possible deal with the Hawks.
“We will speak on the matter after 9am,” lawyer Piet du Plessis told Sapa.
He was responding to a report in The Times newspaper, which said Krejcir's lawyers “desperately scrambled to strike a special deal with police top brass to prevent his arrest”.
The report said that Du Plessis, Krejcir's attorney, sent a letter on Wednesday to National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele, and Gauteng police commissioner Mzwandile Petros, “pleading with them” to cancel the warrant of arrest.
His attorneys apparently asked that Krejcir not be handcuffed or held in custody. They want him instead just to be summoned to appear in court.
Du Plessis said he would only comment on the letter after a meeting to be held on Thursday morning.
Hawks spokesman McIntosh Polela said he had no knowledge of a letter being sent to Cele. “I don't know why he wants to prevent his arrest, and don't know if any efforts to prevent his arrest will succeed,” said Polela.
The SA Revenue Service confiscated a Lamborghini and Ferrari belonging to Krejcir on Wednesday afternoon.
SARS spokesman Adrian Lackay said the vehicles were confiscated from Krejcir's home in Bedfordview, Johannesburg.
“It is part of the efforts by the state and law enforcement agencies involved in this case to secure assets and prevent assets from being dissipated while investigations continue.”
The Hawks said on Wednesday that a hit list found at Krejcir's house included the names of slain underworld boss Cyril Beeka, security consultant Paul O'Sullivan and a state prosecutor.
The Hawks raided Krejcir's upmarket house in Bedfordview, east of Johannesburg, on Tuesday night.
Krejcir was not at home.
“The aim was to arrest a 42-year-old suspect who is wanted on charges of fraud and murder,” Polela said at the time.
“The suspect allegedly claimed R4.5 million from an insurance company, after obtaining fraudulent medical documents showing that he had terminal cancer.”
The doctor, Marian Tupy, who issued the alleged fraudulent medical documents, recently made a deal with the state.
His name was also on the hit list, alongside that of O'Sullivan, a former British spy and the former head of security for the Airports Company SA, and one of ex-police chief and now convicted fraudster Jackie Selebi's main accusers.
The fourth person on the hit list was state prosecutor Riegel du Toit, who was involved in the investigation into the murder of German businessman Uwe Gemballa.
Gemballa was linked to former Teazers boss Lolly Jackson, who was killed last year.
Czech authorities have long maintained that Krejcir was linked to organised crime syndicates.
Krejcir, said to be friends with Jackson and Smith, arrived in South Africa in April 2007.
The Witness reported earlier this month that he had intended to use the false cancer diagnosis to try and secure a presidential pardon from the Czech president, according to testimony in court by his doctor.
He has reportedly twice been convicted in absentia in the Czech Republic for fraud. - Sapa