Lifman loses bid to travel
STAY HOME: Mark Lifman
An application by alleged underworld kingpin and murder accused, Mark Lifman, to appeal a ruling by the Western Cape High Court to not allow him to leave the country has been dismissed.
Less than a month after his application to have his bail conditions amended to allow him to travel to Turkey, Lifman returned to the High Court this week to challenge the findings.
Lifman along with alleged Sexy Boys gang boss, Jerome “Donkie”’Booysen, was busted for the murder of Brian Wainstein who was shot in his Constantia home in 2017.
Wainstein, known as the “Steroid King”, was on Interpol’s most wanted list after he allegedly smuggled steroids worth R76 million into SA.
The duo were released on R100 000 bail after the state did not oppose their bail on the grounds that they surrender their passports.
In August, Lifman petitioned the court to amend his bail conditions to allow him to travel to Turkey where he would work for Cisiy Textiles, located in Bursa.
He stated that he would also need to travel to other countries to source fabrics and yarn and offered to pay R100 000 bail for the travelling condition to be lifted.
But Acting Judge Adrian Montzinger raised concerns about extradition in case Lifman tried to flee and dismissed his application.
In his appeal, Lifman’s lawyers claimed the criticism by the judge was unjustified, saying he had only “speculated” that Lifman would take advantage of the extradition laws in Turkey.
But in his ruling, Montzinger said Lifman’s legal team provided no reasons why he had erred in his judgement.