Cape Town - A witness who testified in the racketeering and money laundering trial of city lawyer Anthony Broadway said the lawyer paid him R50000 to use his name to purchase a farm in Saron.
Simon Basson was the second witness called to testify before Judge Siraj Desai in the Western Cape High Court.
Broadway faces three counts of racketeering, 51 counts of money laundering, two counts of defeating the ends of justice, illegally operating a fishing establishment and possession and storing of abalone without a permit.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges and is conducting his own defence.
It is the State’s case that the activity around the R50000 was in fact to conceal or disguise the nature, source and location of that property or the ownership movement of Farm 408 in Saron.
Prosecutor Quinton Appels questioned Basson about the purchase of the farm for R3.5million, the financing of it, a $600000 (R8.9m) loan by a Chinese company, Wah Hing Hong, and whether he was part thereof.
“I didn’t have the money to purchase a farm and I wasn’t aware of the purchase price. I wasn’t in a financial position to purchase a farm for R3.5m.
“I was given R50000 by Mr Broadway to use my name to register the farm in my name. All the money relating to the farm was handled by Mr Broadway. I don’t know the Chinese company and they didn’t pay any money into my account,” he testified.
According to the indictment, the accused on May 6, 2010 in the Tygervalley wrongfully withdrew an amount of R4495350.15, which was received into the trust account of Coetzee Attorneys, paid by the Chinese company.
Broadway, under cross-examination, said he had a business relationship with Basson and that the two discussed various business opportunities, which included bottling and selling wine in KwaZulu-Natal, and entering the diamond trade.
The accused also put it to Basson that the two of them had on various occasions been on expeditions to look at farms for sale or at auction.
“Yes, we did look at farms but it was Mr Broadway who was interested in buying a farm. I had no intention of buying a farm. The accused never sent me an account as a lawyer, and we never jointly decided to start a business.”
The accused also allegedly unlawfully used Farm 408 in Saron to operate a fish-processing establishment without a permit.
@TheCapeArgus