A SENIOR bank manager nabbed for drug dealing and illegal gun and ammunition possession claims a cop from the Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) tried to cut a deal with him just to frame alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield and his vrou Nicole Johnson.
Raed Cupido, 40, made his appearance at the Cape Town Magistrates Court on 30 June, asking that Magistrate Alida Theart be booted from the case because she previously presided over Stanfield and Johnson’s bail application.
Theart also presided over a new bail application brought by Johnson on new facts claiming she should be released on bail due to her daughter’s health conditions.
The magistrate said: “The health of [Johnson’s] daughter was fabricated by the applicant” and such “a condition does not exist”.
The magistrate added that “it is clear to the Court that [Johnson] wilfully and intentionally well calculated an attempt to mislead the Court by fabricating the health issues of her daughter.”
Cupido said that it would make her biased, especially since the complainant in their case allegedly threatened him.
According to court documents, Cupido was arrested on 10 June when Sergeant Appollis from the AGU phoned someone and handed the phone to him.
Cupido says on the other end of the line was a former employee of Stanfield and Johnson, the same guy who accused them of stealing his BMW in 2022.
The man allegedly told him: “Tell the police officers that the drugs belong to Ralph Stanfield and Nicole Johnson; they will allow you to get into your car and drive away.”
Cupido says he told the ou: “I do not know what you are talking about.”
But then Appollis allegedly asked him: “Are you not going to do what [he] told you to do?”
Court documents state it was clear they wanted Cupido to falsely implicate Stanfield and Johnson in return for his freedom.
Cupido also told the court that he plans to use Johnson’s affidavit to support his bail bid and to prove that she does not have anything to do with the alleged drugs found at the storage unit where he was arrested.
He further said it would be biased for Theart to preside over the proceedings. The court documents read: “I am concerned that the prior exposure to facts, allegations, or evidence in Ms Johnson’s bail application and her credibility findings against Ms Johnson would compromise the perception of impartiality in my application for bail.”
Attorney Bruce Hendricks, representing Cupido, told the Daily Voice that in terms of the law the magistrate should recuse herself. The matter was postponed to 7 July for judgment.
