Cape Town – Top Western Cape police officer Major-General Jeremy Vearey has slammed a “special operation” against him and other police officers as an attempt to defame and frame him.
This after Colonel Charl Kinnear - who is the investigating officer into the extortion case against Nafiz Modack, Colin Booysen, Ashley Fields, Jacques Cronje and Carl Lakay, as the accused - called for an “urgent investigation” for crimes allegedly committed by six members of the provincial crime intelligence unit and who are allegedly linked to high-flying gangsters.
Kinnear lodged a complaint on Sunday at Mfuleni police station. They are now being investigated for allegedly defeating the ends of justice, and perjury.
Kinnear detailed in his affidavit how the six “as well as co-conspirators of theirs are misusing state property and resources in a personal attack under the pretence that they are investigating Lieutenant-General Peter Jacobs, Vearey, Captain Althea Jeftha, Constable CV de Vries and myself (Kinnear)”.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said they were aware of Kinnear’s complaint.
“However, given that the document on which your query is based is intended for police management, I am not going to dwell on its content. You can rest assured that the allegations contained in the document are viewed in a very serious light, and this will be dealt with accordingly,” Naidoo said.
Vearey said he was being framed by individuals in the crime intelligence environment.
“They have been running a special operation for the past few years on the instruction of a general.
“This operation has the express purpose of discrediting me by manufacturing false allegations in order to affect the arrest of myself with the co-operation of elements in the media for purposes of embarrassment.
“The current information is an extension of what I have referred to before in previous media engagements with Independent around the Wyngaard, Queenie and Pierre Theron rumours. All these so-called sources were discredited for their falsehoods, and the politicians behind them were exposed by sensible media journalists,” Vearey said.
In his sworn affidavit, Kinnear said of Modack and his co-accused: “The accused were detained at Pollsmoor Prison in Tokai, and an instruction was given that they must not receive any visits from any SAPS officials as it was proven that the accused had undue assistance from various SAPS officials.”
Kinnear said that on January 15 last year he was contacted by Captain Jeftha and Major General Lincoln, who informed him that Captain Barker was at Pollsmoor Prison and insisted to see Modack pertaining to a matter in which he was the complainant but could not provide a case number for the investigation.
Also in January last year while investigating the extortion case, Kinnear said he met a person in Goodwood Prison who gave him information about Modack and “several other high-flyer gangsters”.
“I was called to Goodwood Prison where I once again met Jacques Enver. He was visited by a white female and a coloured male who looked like an Indian. They informed him that they were from Crime Intelligence and asked him what he knew about the Modack case that was on the court roll for a bail application.
“The two people informed him not to give a statement to Colonel Kinnear, Major-General Kinnear and Major-General Lincoln. If he should give a statement to them, the information would just be given back to Modack and his people,” Kinnear said.
Vearey said: “These tactics are no different to the abuse of power and state resources used in framing General Lincoln in the past when he was put on trial on trumped-up charges, convicted, and then dismissed on appeal.”
He said he would take legal action over the allegations.
“It is my intention to demonstrate the pattern of racketeering and criminal conspiracy involving state officials in an attempt to defame and frame me. The matter has also been reported to Ipid (the Independent Police Investigative Directorate),” he said.
Ipid national spokesperson Moses Dlamini said the complaint would be assessed to see if it fell within Ipid’s mandate.
“Only then will a decision be taken on whether to investigate it. The other matter that will have to be determined is whether it will be referred to our Western Cape provincial office, or investigated by the national special investigations team,” Dlamini said.