The multi-million rand extortion of a luxury car dealership in Paarden Eiland took centre stage at the Western Cape High Court on Thursday in the mammoth trail involving of alleged underworld kingpin Nafiz Modack.
Bank records revealed by investigators have shown that the owners of The Toy Shop had paid a staggering sum of over R6 million to Empire Car Investments over a two-year period.
Empire Car Investments is an entity formerly owned by Modack’s younger brother, Yaseen, based at a house in Lentegeur, Mitchells Plain.
The Toy Shop was thrust into the limelight in February 2021 when CCTV footage shared on social media saw a group of men trash larney cars, including Aston Martins and Porsches.
In the footage, around 40 men are seen arriving in two Toyota Quantum taxis and a bakkie, and entering the dealership where they start smashing car windows and windscreens with wrenches and mops.
Pictures of the incident showed damages to expensive showroom models including the makes of Porsche, Aston Martin and a Nissan GT-R.
Hawks detectives investigating the money laundering charges against Modack and his co-accused have also revealed that the manager of Toy Shop will be brought to court later in the trial to testify about the alleged extortion.
According to the State’s case, the details of the millions were uncovered when the Hawks assessed the bank accounts of Empire and ascertained that R4.2 million was paid into Empire from The Toy Shop.
Further investigations found that the owner also paid two sums of money from both his personal bank accounts of R485 000 and R1.8 million to Empire, as they were being extorted.
Further assessing the bank statements of Empire, the State revealed that Modack’s co-accused, Ricardo Morgan, had paid R2.8 million into Empire’s account.
Captain Edward du Plessis of the Hawks told the court that when cops questioned Modack’s bestie, Anwar Gallie, about why he paid a staggering R3.5 million into the same account, Gallie allegedly turned around and told cops that Modack told him money would be sent to his personal bank account and he should transfer it to Empire, using references such as ‘Golf’, ‘Merc’ and ‘oil’.
Chuckles were heard in court when cops showed the bank transaction between Morgan and Zane Kilian, showing references such as ‘p**s’, ‘holn***ers’, ‘love you’, ‘stuk n***’, ‘payday’, ‘Zane’, ‘last money’ and others.
The case continues in July.