DURBAN - A SYNDICATE is smuggling millions of rand out of the country’s airports, including King Shaka International Airport, destined for the UAE.
This is the heart of the defence of airport police officers Vignasen Thatiah and Mbuso Eugene Mhlangu, who stand accused of stealing R6 million from an Overport “money courier” on December 11, 2016.
Thatiah and Mhlangu, coincidentally, received wide media attention for their role in catching an Emirates passenger trying to take R12 million out of the country via King Shaka International Airport, just two weeks before the alleged R6 million incident.
Speaking outside the Durban Regional Court after proceedings on Friday, the accuseds’ defence team said they had closed their case.
“We believe that Thatiah and Mhlangu’s arrest was part of a plan by a syndicate operating out of King Shaka International Airport and other airports in the republic to remove large amounts of money, in the millions, to Dubai. Our clients believe their actions were a hindrance to the operation because they have been intercepting these cash mules, which comes from information from informers,” said their lawyers, Velvan Nair and Bongani Cele.
The case has been before court since November. Portions of the evidence heard in court say that in the R6 million incident on Sunday, December 11, 2016, the complainant in the case, Mohamed Aboo, 62, unemployed, said he left his Overport home at about 7am to go to the home of Ahmed Vahed, 34, from Morningside.
He collected a few bags containing money which he was to take to Cape Town on an early morning business trip. There was R6m packed in R200 and R100 notes in envelopes.
Aboo and his wife Naseema drove to the airport and while waiting in the queue two policemen approached them. The couple were asked to follow the officers, Thatiah and Mhlangu, to the administration building for questioning.
Aboo said the officers opened his bags and took the envelopes filled with money. The bag also contained clothing hangers, scarves and scraps of material to disguise the money.
Aboo’s testimony differed slightly to that of his wife’s and the two were cross-examined about why they did not immediately report the theft to other police, or inform Vahed immediately of the theft.
Aboo’s wife said she was instructed by the officers to go to Woolworths and buy groceries such as milk, juices, sugar and flour, to fill up the bags. Aboo said he had been couriering money for 18 months for Vahed, and was paid R5 000 a trip, and sometimes a bonus. He also said he earned a salary of R60 000 a month from other business interests.
“I have done this before. I have taken money to Cape Town on business and I know what the procedure is. I am just a courier for Mr AV. I get instructions to meet somebody, whoever the person is, to drop off the monies to him. When I get to Cape Town, I make a call and they’ll tell me the person is at the airport waiting or I’ll go to a certain spot and they will come and fetch it from me,” said Aboo in testimony.
Legal representative for Thatiah, Nalini Govender, told Aboo: “A few weeks before your meeting with these two police officers, these two police officers had apprehended a suspect trying to leave on an Emirates flight with R12 million cash.”
Aboo said he was aware of the “catch” at the airport, but didn’t know that the accused were the ones who caught the suspects.
“On that day, when I was in Cape Town, I had phoned AV to tell him what happened. They sent me a photograph on the phone asking me if these were the two policemen that apprehended me and took the monies from me,” said Aboo.
Aboo said he had not immediately reported the theft because he was very scared and his wife was alone. It emerged in court that he told Vahed of the theft at about 2pm that day. He was told to take the next flight back to Durban.
Govender said: “Accused one (Thatiah) will deny that he had stolen these monies or he removed these envelopes from your bag on the day.
“The evidence will be that they were working on the information from informers on the day that they pulled you out from the queue and this was pursuant to their big arrest two weeks before that on December 3, when they had apprehended a suspect with the R12 million cash.”
“Accused one will testify that he believed that he's being a victim or part of a set-up to discredit him so that he's removed from the King Shaka Airport from this unit. Were you aware that after your incident, there was a person stopped at Bloemfontein Airport with R23 million cash trying to take it out of the country?”
Aboo replied he'd seen it on the news. News reports at the time said five people had been caught trying to take money out of the country via OR Tambo International Airport, destined for the United Arab Emirates. The group was caught by SARS officials.
Vahed, 34, who owns Budget Cellular in central Durban, was also called to testify. He said he packed three suitcases, with the intention of paying suppliers in cash, to avoid hefty bank charges. He sold wholesale airtime.
When asked if SARS was aware of how he conducted business, Vahed said he did not want to give out that information because it was a security risk to him and the people he was associated with.
“So you're unable to prove to this court then the source of where you got the six million from, like a withdrawal from a bank or a bank account? You're unable to illustrate to this court how you had six million to put into these suitcases?” asked Govender.
“I receive cash from customers, that's my answer.”
He told the court he was not involved in the R12m incident. Govender asked him why he was at the airport the evening the R12m was confiscated and why he was involved with the suspect that was apprehended and tried to get him bail.
“Okay, let me tell you what happened. I was at the airport and my friend had a problem. So I went to see what was happening,” said Vahed.
He said when he heard of the missing money, he went into a “mental breakdown”, thinking of all the suppliers he owed money to.
Govender said since the R6m incident, threats had been made to Thatiah and Mhlangu. Govender asked Vahed: “Were you aware of any persons making any calls to accused one on that day, from an unknown number, demanding their money back and asking them to stop interfering with operations at the airport and if they didn't stop, they'd kill his family and Constable Mhlangu and his family.
“He was told by the caller that he has no idea what this money is funding and it's bigger than his career and that he will be eliminated. He was further told by the caller that they're familiar with the top brass of the South African Police Service at provincial level.”
Vahed told the court he had an image of the newspaper clipping about the R12m bust, including the accused's images, but that he did not send the picture to Aboo.
In Friday's court appearance, the investigating officer and the head of the KZN provincial task team were also called to the stand.
Judgment will be given next month.