Cape Town - Alleged underworld kingpin Nafiz Modack has been handed an ultimatum by the Western Cape High Court to appoint a legal representative in the next 20 days or settle for a Legal Aid lawyer.
The man accused of plotting the murder of slain Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) detective Charl Kinnear was given a stern warning by Judge Mark Sher, who said he would not accept any more delays as Modack and his co-accused were set to go on trial in January.
Modack appeared on two different matters, which have been dubbed the “Tax Matter” and the “Kinnear Matter”.
Modack was arrested by the Hawks nearly three years ago for allegedly defrauding the SA Revenue Service (Sars) out of R46 million.
His mother, Ruwaida, and brother, Yaseen, former Sars employee Faried van der Schyff, Bashier Syce, Layla Bedderson, Dominique McLachlan and Kulsum van der Schyff, were also arrested.
The group later appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court and now face more than 700 charges of racketeering, fraud, money laundering, forgery and uttering, and contraventions of the VAT Act.
The State is set to prove that the group had registered as VAT vendors and were e-filing claims for refunds which could not be determined, and that payments of R46m were received.
Modack was also charged with the murder of Kinnear.
Along with several other accused, he faces more than 3 000 charges relating to various incidents, including the grenade attack on Kinnear’s home, pinging Kinnear’s cellphone and those of other high-ranking police officers, as well as the attempted hit on criminal lawyer William Booth, fraud, corruption and racketeering charges.
Last month, Modack wrote a letter to Judge Nathan Erasmus asking for help to allow consultation with people on the outside to help pay his legal fees.
Judge Sher was not impressed yesterday when he was informed that Modack and his younger brother, Yaseen, had not given their lawyers financial instructions.
“You have been given many opportunities to get legal representation, either of your choice or Legal Aid. Despite the directives made by previous judges, you have still not finalised your position. So, I am going to make an order, make an ultimatum, that you, Mr Modack, will tell the court on November 29, and your legal representatives must be present to confirm it ,whether you will be proceeding by way of paid brief or not. You will not have a choice after that. If you do not indicate positively on that day that you have legal representation, paid legal representation, and it is not confirmed, then Mr Cloete will proceed on behalf of the Legal Aid board to get Legal Aid on board.”
Modack appeared calm as he told the judge he understood.
