New evidence allegedly linking Nafiz Modack to extortion attempts became a hot topic at the Western Cape High Court on Thursday.
The evidence, which is believed to be audio recordings, was raised by State prosecutors following two testimonies heard earlier in the week.
Alleged underworld kingpin Modack along with his alleged henchman and co-accused, Jacques Cronje, are facing charges of extortion, kidnapping and intimidation of a State witness.
The man identified as Mr C told the court he fled to Dubai after Nafiz’s “Hells Angels” were sent to extort money from him.
The witness who is an asset manager says an investor known as Shanil Maharaj approached him for a high-risk investment totalling R545 000.
But when both men lost out on the deal, Maharaj allegedly took to threatening the State witness and subsequently contracted Modack to recover the money.
Mr C said he eventually transferred R90 000 under duress and fled the country after receiving messages that his family would be killed.
Maharaj took the stand shortly afterwards where he confirmed that he hired Modack to recover the money, but told the court he believed it to be a “legal collection”.
Maharaj subsequently handed over WhatsApp conversations between himself and Modack as evidence and told Judge Robert Henney that Modack had provided him with the contact details of two police officers who were to help him with a criminal case against Mr C.
In his testimony, he highlighted the interactions with a cop named only as “Calvin”.
But questions arose whether these conversations could be ruled admissible as part of the trial as the State sought to start introducing the evidence.
Modack’s lawyer, Advocate Bash Sibda, objected to the introduction of this evidence and asked if the cops would be brought to testify.
State prosecutor, Advocate Greg Wolmarans, told the court they had abandoned their plans for a trial-within-a-trial to introduce the evidence as the witnesses were not available.
Henney ruled that the witnesses referred to would be admitted provisionally and Maharaj will continue with his testimony on Monday.
Sibda also told the Court that Nafiz had allegedly received death threats from cops transporting him to court and it was raised with the State to obtain video footage.
Henney said the threats could result in an assault charge against the cops, but that it would have to be investigated by the relevant authorities.