Kimberley - In a surprise twist, charges were withdrawn on Tuesday against one of the accused in Kimberley’s multimillion-rand illicit diamond dealing case, signifying that the State’s case against several high-profile names in the diamond trade, could be starting to unravel.
Edward Poone, one of the original group of suspects arrested during massive raids by the Hawks in August last year on charges relating to the contravention of the Diamond Act, appeared in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday after the case against him was separated from the “main” case in January.
After the separation, Poone joined five other accused linked to the case - Colin Carey, Xeuwei Yang, Spiro Louverdis, Brent Lunt and Andrew Pedisane - who were also arrested during the raids and face similar charges. The five, however, are being tried separately from the main group of 20 accused, who appeared in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Poone paid a bail amount of R150 000 after his initial arrest.
On Tuesday State prosecutor, senior advocate Mpho Makhaga, provisionally withdrew all charges against Poone, citing that “the investigating officer and key witness in the case” had fallen ill and had been booked off sick for six months.
Makhaga said that while the investigating officer had indicated that he would be available at the end of October, she was “unsure” if he would be in a position to continue with the case on his return.
Indications are that the State’s case against the accused is starting to unravel, as it is believed that only one other witness, the police informant responsible for infiltrating the “illegal diamond syndicate”, is all the State has in its armoury to counter the “onslaught” planned by some of the senior advocates, who are representing the high-profile accused at a cost of between R30 000 and R40 000 per day.
While Magistrate Vernon Smith did indicate to Poone that there was the possibility that he could be charged again, insiders have revealed that this is unlikely, given the investigating officer’s dismal health condition.
It is expected that the charges against Carey, Yang, Louverdis, Lunt and Pedisane will also be withdrawn, when they are expected to appear in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court later this year.
It is not yet clear if the investigating officer will be available to testify when the trial of the main group of accused is expected to start next year.
However, several of the main accused have indicated that they are considering laying counter charges against the State, suing for millions in lost income incurred while the outcome of the case is pending.
They are, Trevor Pikwane, Antonella Florio-Poone, Willem Weenink, Komilan Packirisamy, Ashley Brooks, Carl van Graaff, Sarel van Graaff, Frank Perridge, Muhammed Ahmed, Patrick Mason, Kevin Urry, McDonald Visser, Leandro Morolong, Antonio Ingala, Bassel Nasser, Ahmed Mamoud, Aquila Fisher, Monoj Detroya, Ismial Collier and Ahmed Khoran.
DFA