Cape Town - A suspected Mitchells Plain drug kingpin, who faced 239 charges and had all his assets frozen by the State, says he is a free man after the matter was withdrawn and all his property returned.
The case against alleged Dixie Boys leader Fadwaan “Vet” Murphy, 45, was struck off the roll at the Khayelitsha Priority Court on June 6, after it was found there was no criminal case against him.
Murphy, said to be worth R53.5 million, was also happy to hear that assets seized by the Assets Forfeiture Unit (AFU) last year, must be returned.
But his relief may be short-lived as prosecutors are already working on getting him back in court.
The court found that Murphy’s interior decorating business, Ulterior Trading, which was listed as Accused number 6 on his charge sheet, was not presented correctly to the court as it was not a person.
On Tuesday, the Cape High Court ruled Murphy’s assets be unfrozen and returned to him but that he may not trade or sell them in the next six months.
These include 24 vehicles ranging from luxury boats, a trailer and superbike to property in Lentegeur, Athlone Industria, Grassy Park and Worcester.
An ecstatic Murphy contacted Daily Voice on Tuesday, saying he was now “cleared”.
Murphy, 43, of Turksvy Street, Lentegeur, said his advocates managed to get back all his seized cars and frozen bank accounts.
“The high court has ruled in my favour for all my assets to be returned to me and all my accounts to be cleared,” he said.
This despite the fact that police arrested Murphy, his ex-wife, Shafieka Murphy, 49, his sister Glenda Bird, 46, and Dominique Davidson and Leon Paulsen, on 239 charges relating to racketeering, money laundering and other charges relating to the (Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca).
The intense investigation began in December 2014, when police confiscated R380 000 in cash from Murphy’s home and arrested his suspected henchman, Paulsen.
The breakthrough came last September when, at a house in Reindeer Street, Grassy Park, owned by Davidson, cops seized drugs and money worth R4million, which included 7 985 packets of tik, 10 400 units of heroin, cash and sealing machines.
Shafieka, who has two children with Murphy, was found at the house with two other women, who have since been released after turning state witness.
Eric Ntabazalila, spokesman of the regional National Prosecuting Authority, says Murphy’s assets had to be released after his case was struck off the court roll.
“The restraint was discharged on the basis that there is no criminal case pending against the accused because our (AFU) was founded on the basis that the prosecution was instituted against the accused.
“The court said that there was no case pending at criminal court and the restraint was thus discharged.
“The case was struck off the court roll on 6 June 2017 after the court found that Ulterior Trading, Accused 6 in this matter, was not placed correctly in front of the court.
“The prosecutor requested a short postponement to place Accused 6 correctly in front of the court but the request was denied.
“Due to the fact that we could not withdraw the case because it was a Racketeering prosecution and the fact that we did not want to proceed without Accused 6 being charged, the magistrate struck the case off the court roll.”
Ntabazalila said the withdrawal is temporary while police get all their ducks in a row.
“This investigation is almost complete and the case will be placed back on the court roll within the next couple of weeks.
“The case will then be transferred to the high court for the trial. The plan is to start with the prosecution during the first term 2018.”