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Former detectives boss Jeremy Vearey dismisses Nafiz Modack claim that he took R3m in bribes

Former detectives boss Jeremy Vearey dismisses Nafiz Modack claim that he took R3m in bribes
Former Western Cape detectives head Major-General Jeremy Vearey testified in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday, 22 October. (Photo: Vincent Cruywagen)
Vincent Cruywagen
By Vincent Cruywagen
22 Oct 2024
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Former Western Cape detectives head Major General Jeremy Vearey has strongly denied allegations by Nafiz Modack that he took bribes from the alleged underworld figure to return firearms confiscated by police.

On Tuesday, 22 October 2024, Major General Jeremy Vearey, the former Western Cape detective head, denied receiving a bribe of nearly R3-million from alleged underworld figure Nafiz Modack in an alleged attempt by Modack to have firearms confiscated by police returned.

vearey modack Former Western Cape detectives head Major General Jeremy Vearey testified in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday, 22 October. (Photo: Vincent Cruywagen)



Vearey took the stand in the Western Cape High Court to answer allegations by Modack, who has claimed that he used a middleman, Mohamedaly Hanware, to foster a corrupt relationship with Vearey for the return of guns seized by the Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) in 2017.

Modack also claimed that he hired Hanware to develop a corrupt relationship with AGU Lieutenant Colonel Charl Kinnear, who was gunned down in front of his home on 18 September 2020.

At the time, Kinnear was investigating several organised crime matters, and colleagues suspected of creating fraudulent firearm licences for criminals.

Vearey’s appearance comes after Modack, through his legal representative, advocate Sibda Bash, submitted two statements detailing his allegations against Vearey.

In the first statement, Modack claimed he paid Vearey R150,000 via Hanware. In his second statement, Modack claimed to have paid Vearey nearly R3-million over the course of a year. 

This money was paid into four bank accounts that belonged to Caitlan Bowen, Hanware’s wife. Several payments included references such as “Gen V”, “GV”, “Gen V”, “Gv”, “Gen B”, “Gen Vearey”, and “Jeremy V”.

“Your honour. The financial statements are false. My name was spelt wrong and I did not receive any of the money. It was never paid into my account,” Vearey told the court.

Modack and former rugby player Zane Kilian are the primary suspects in Kinnear’s murder and the attempted murder of lawyer William Booth on 9 April 2020 at his home in Cape Town. Both pleaded not guilty to these charges, as did the co-accused on the other charges.

Read more: Charl Kinnear assassination four years on – a trial plus ‘lies, deceit and empty promises’

Modack and Kilian, along with 13 co-accused, are collectively facing 124 charges including murder, attempted murder, corruption, gangsterism, extortion, the illegal interception of communications, money laundering and contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.

The other accused are Jacques Cronje, Ziyaad Poole, Moegamat Brown, Riyaat Gesant, Fagmeed Kelly, Mario Petersen, Petrus Visser, Janick Adonis, Amaal Jantjies, former AGU Sergeant Ashley Tabisher, Yaseen Modack, Mogamat Mukudam and Ricardo Morgan.

Vearey’s first Modack meeting 


State prosecutor Greg Wolmarans began his line of questioning by asking when and where Vearey first met M0dack. Vearey told the court this happened on 3 May 2017. 

That meeting occurred in Vearey’s office. According to his testimony, this was the first time Modack allegedly attempted to establish a corrupt relationship with him.

At the time, Vearey stated that he had meetings with security companies providing services at nightclubs and restaurants in the Cape Town CBD about gun licence compliance and that he informed them that no weapons would be allowed in the CBD except in extreme circumstances.

“A person I referred to as Russell and I underwent instruction together from the British Secret Service and Modack attended the meeting on 3 May 2017. He [Russel] knew Modack. Russel stated that Modack wanted to discuss the firearms seized by Captain Althea Japha from Modack’s people [security guards],” Vearey told the court.

But Vearey did not fall for this “trap”.

‘They were my targets’


Modack was later arrested on 15 December 2017 along with Colin Booysen, Ashley Fields, Jacques Cronje and Carl Lakay on charges of intimidation and extortion. They were released on R10,000 bail and the charges were later dropped.

In Modack’s statement, which was heard in court on Tuesday, he claimed that after his arrest in December 2017, Vearey instructed that he be denied visitation rights in custody. He also claimed that Veary was acting on the instruction of alleged underworld figure Mark Lifman to arrest him.

“Your honour, I did not give such instructions that Modack be denied visitation. I have never met Lifman,” Vearey said.

The questioning then shifted to Vearey’s alleged corrupt relationship with Hanware. He was asked if he had ever met Hanware in person and whether he had a corrupt relationship with him, as Modack claims. 

“I do not know him and I have never met him. He contacted me through Facebook messages using a [pseudonym] Tristin Mills in August 2018. He wanted to know where Kinnear was because he could not get hold of Kinnear,” said Vearey.

Modack’s statements, shown on the big screen inside Court 1, reflected that the R150,000 payments allegedly made to Veary were made in tranches of R30,000 and R40,000 (both in cash), and R80,000 allegedly paid into Hanware’s mother-in-law’s account.

Veary said, “These are false statements. Money was never deposited into my bank account. I never received money. I helped SARS with the Lifman investigation and probe into alleged Sexy Boys gang boss Jerome Booysen and alleged 28s gang leader Ralph Stanfield. I am not friends with anyone; instead, they were my targets.”

Modack has claimed he made the payments as part of an alleged undercover operation to expose police officers he claimed were corrupt. The court has heard that none of the money reached Vearey and that Modack was apparently duped by Hanware, who has since moved to Dubai. Modack has denied his claims amount to a confession of attempted corruption.

Barker to testify


Prosecutor Wolmarans told the court that Captain Alfred Barker commissioned Modack’s statement on the R150,000. This is not the first time Barker’s name has come up during the trial.

In September, Sibda told the Western Cape High Court that Barker would testify on Modack’s claim that he was part of an undercover operation to expose Kinnear and the former head of detectives in the Western Cape, Jeremy Vearey, for corruption.

Read more: Kinnear murder trial — alleged ‘rogue’ policeman to testify in defence of Nafiz Modack

Barker was one of six police officers named by Kinnear in a 59-page complaint he made to his superiors that rogue police officers in the Western Cape were working to frame him.

In the complaint, dated December 2019, Kinnear claimed there was a plot against him and some colleagues, including Vearey and then national crime intelligence head Lieutenant General Peter Jacobs.

Kinnear blamed the six officers, led by Brigadier Sanjith Hansraj, who, according to a 2019 report by amaBhungane, was attached to the office of Western Cape Crime Intelligence head Major General Mzwandile Tiyo.

The defence will cross-question Vearey on Monday, 28 October. However, the trial resumes on Wednesday, with a new witness taking the stand. DM

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