MODACK MILLIONS IN SPOTLIGHT

Alleged underworld kingpin Nafiz Modack was left tongue-tied as multi-million rand payments to his family came under scrutiny at the Western Cape High Court yesterday. 

Modack, who is on trial alongside 14 others in a wide-ranging trial, returned to the witness box where he was questioned extensively by the State on money-laundering charges centred on the Empire Investments bank account. 

Bank records shown earlier in the trial by the Hawks National Task Team revealed that a moerse klomp kroon moved through the account which Modack claimed he never had control over. 

State prosecutor Advocate Greg Wolmarans punched holes in Modack’s claims about the bank records which show his relatives banked over R9 million in just two years. 

According to the State’s case the company bank account was used to launder extortion money, which was then used for various activities such as paying for the pinging of cellphones of Modack’s alleged targets, including slain detective Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear. 

While Modack has claimed the company was owned by his boetie Yaseen and later taken over by co-accused Adiel Mukudam, Wolmarans showed that throughout this period Yaseen banked over R3 million. 

The records showed that despite Mukudam allegedly being the director, Yaseen still got a monthly salary of R150 000 each month. 

Money sent to his wife Rehana Ismail and her hair salon were also a sore topic as Wolmarans interrogated why Empire Investments, if not owned by Modack, had made payments worth over R455 000 to her. 

An irritated Modack told the court: "Whatever was paid to her, was due to her, which I borrowed." 

He further claimed that he used the Empire bank account to pay his motjie back, as he did not have a bank account of his own. 

Meanwhile, Mukudam has told the court via his lawyer that he was made the director of the company to conceal the identities of the real directors and that he was paid R3000 to sign the court documents. 

Judge Robert Henney question why the records did not reflect payments to Mukudam as a director but Wolmarans said the bank records showed that Mukudam never received nearly as much money as Yaseen.