A former attorney has outed alleged underworld kingpin, Nafiz Modack, as the person who funded the defence cases of a self-confessed hitman as well as members of the Terrible West Siders gang.
A visibly-annoyed Gary Newmark took the stand at the Western Cape High Court on Monday after being subpoenaed to testify amid allegations by the hitman, Mr A, that Newmark helped to smokkel him out of court.
Mr A told the court after executing hits for Modack, he was arrested by cops in Woodstock with one of the murder weapons.
He opened fire on the police and was taken into custody but on the day he was set to appear in Cape Town Magistrate’s Court, he was simply let go.
He claimed Newmark was speaking on the phone to Ziyaad Poole, Modack’s co-accused, who bragged about what the “Big Boss” could do. And for this reason, he believed there were underhanded dealings behind his release.
Newmark dropped a bombshell when he admitted to the court that he acted on behalf of Mr A in two cases, and that each time his instructions and payments came from Modack.
He said on the day of Mr A’s court appearance, he was told the case was not enrolled as there were two witness statements outstanding, and the hitman released.
Newmark revealed: “He [Modack] congratulated me and called me the next Pete Mihalik, but now that may not have been such a good thing.
Mihalik was gunned down in his car in October 2018 while dropping his children at school in Green Point.
Newmark said Modack paid him in cash and via electronic transfers. These payments were allegedly made by Poole at the Crystal Towers and the One and Only Hotel.
Newmark said he knew Poole as “Tommy”.
State prosecutor, Advocate Blaine Lazarus, produced bank statements obtained from Empire Car Investments which showed six electronic payments totalling R53 000, between December 2019 and May 2020.
Newmark also named several of the Modack’s co-accused saying he had represented them before.
During cross examination, Modack’s lawyer, Advocate Bash Sibda, told Newmark that his client did not deny the electronic payments but explained it was not for court appearances as Newmark had claimed.
Sibda explained that the initial amount of R6000 was paid to Newmark in order for him to write a letter of demand for the return of a Rolex watch, valued at R250 000, which was allegedly confiscated by police.
Sibda further claimed that Newmark was also paid to accompany domestic workers employed by Modack to open criminal charges against police officers who allegedly assaulted them during raids at Modack’s home.
Newmark agreed to these scenarios, but was also adamant that he represented Mr A as instructed by Modack.
Sibda then revealed that despite his testimony that he defended individuals at court, Newmark was in fact barred by the Legal Practitioners Council more than 10 years ago.
The trial continues.