Bail granted to two men who failed to declare millions
Mabetwa said both men, according to evidence on their stamped passports, used to travel together on many occasion. She said Abdulla was unaware on the day of their arrest that there were currencies in the car they were travelling in.
The two Mozambican nationals who were arrested after being found in possession of over R76 million in cash, were granted a combined hefty bail of R175 000, subject to strict conditions, by the Barberton Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Magistrate Meriam Mabetwa granted Faizal Assane (50) bail of R150 000 and Ahmed Abdulla (38) R25 000.
Assane was restricted to stay at the address of a house in Boksburg enlisted on his affidavit as one of his properties, which was confirmed by the investigating officer. Mabetwa also said that he had to report to the Boksburg Police Station twice a week.
Assane was ordered to surrender his passport and all his travel documents to the investigating officer and has to stay in the country until the finalisation of the case. He is allowed to leave his residence between 06:00 and 18:00, but only for the purpose of receiving medical care if necessary or consulting with his attorneys. He was ordered to cooperate with the investigating officer to have a tracking device attached to him to monitor his movements.
Mabetwa said she saw no reason for not granting Assane bail. “The applicant has listed on his affidavit that he owns movable and non-movable assets in the country and has no intention to abscond the country. These include a house in Boksburg and a vehicle, a Toyota Hilux double-cab. He does not deny that he concealed the currencies and they legally belong to him. To refuse him bail will not be in the interest of the justice system,” she said.
Despite receiving a lower fine of R25 000, Abdulla’s bail was also subject to conditions similar to those of his co-accused. He was also ordered to stay at Assane’s home in Boksburg until the case has been finalised.
Mabetwa said both men, according to evidence on their stamped passports, used to travel together on many occasion. She said Abdulla was unaware on the day of their arrest that there were currencies in the car they were travelling in.
On his affidavit he said he was running a business in Mozambique and was providing employment to five people. He said should he be denied bail and continue to be incarcerated, it would jeopardise his business and his employees would lose their jobs. He further stated that his family in Mozambique was in danger after their photos had been shown at their local television stations. He said should he be granted bail, he intends on bringing them over to South Africa for safety purposes.
Their defence attorney, Vusi Mboweni of Mboweni Attorneys said he was happy that his clients had finally been granted bail. Mboweni on Monday replaced defence attorney Mandla Mamba, who along with defence advocate Pieter Naude, represented the two accused since the case started. “We are very much happy about the outcome. As we indicated from the onset that there was no criminality conduct in this issue. This money belong to our client and we will use all legal avenues to recover it from the state,” said Mboweni.
The case was postponed to Thursday February 25 in the same court. Naude said he hopes when they return to court, the case would be finalised as the life of Assane (to whom the money belongs) was depending on the money that was currently in the state’s possession.
