Nafiz Modack paid murder accused Zane Kilian almost R100,000, State alleges

Former rugby player and murder accused Zane Kilian was allegedly paid R96,500 from a company that appears to be linked to alleged underworld figure Nafiz Modack.

The State saved the best for last in its argument opposing bail for the two along with Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) Sergeant Ashley Tabisher, Jacques Cronje and Ricardo Morgan, who is out on R50,000 bail, but must attend all the proceedings.

Kilian and Modack face a charge of murder relating to the shooting of AGU Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear on 18 September 2020 in front of his home in Bishop Lavis, Cape Town. The two are also the main accused in a failed murder attempt on lawyer William Booth on 9 April 2020 in Cape Town. 

The group as a whole face charges of conspiracy to commit murder, fraud, money laundering, contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act and of the Electronic Communications Act.

Details of the payments allegedly made to Kilian are contained in an affidavit compiled by Hawks Captain Edward du Plessis. The affidavit was handed in at the Blue Downs Regional Court during the bail hearing on Thursday.

An affidavit compiled by Hawks Detective Captain Pieter Joubert was also handed in. Both are members of the national task team investigating the murder of Kinnear. State prosecutor Greg Wolmarans told the court that these final affidavits concluded the State’s case.

The payments, according to Du Plessis’s affidavit, were made from the account of Empire Investment Cars. Du Plessis said it is clear that Modack had an interest in and access to the banking of Empire Investment Cars.

The payments to Kilian were allegedly made between 26 February 2020 and 4 September 2020.

Other alleged payments from this account include five to Amaal Jantjies totalling R64,000 between 9 November 2019 and 15 November 2020, and 19 to co-accused Morgan totalling R140,000 between 19 September 2019 and 12 December 2020.

Jantjies and Janick Adonis are accused of conspiring with Modack to murder Kinnear in November 2019, including a failed hand grenade attack at Kinnear’s home on 23 November 2019.

Du Plessis’ affidavits further reflect that the alleged payments to Jantjies coincide with the timescale of the five attempts on the life of Kinnear.

His investigation into Modack’s alleged dodgy money trail goes back to claims by Modack that he paid Major-General Jeremy Vearey and  Mohamadally Hanware. This money, Modack alleged, was meant for Vearey so he (Modack) could get his firearms back.

The money trail showed that Modack allegedly gave them R40,000 and on 1 September 2018 deposited R80,000 into Hanware’s mother-in-law’s account from his Gold Business account.

“I suspected that the Gold Business account he was referring to is that of Empire Investment Cars. A Section 205 application was made previously on the FNB account number 62773345733 belonging to Empire Investment Cars.

“I confirmed that is the same account as I found the transaction that Modack referred to and that it was paid from the account of Empire Investments Cars to the account number 62750759030,” his affidavit reads.

While perusing the bank statements Du Plessis found 39 suspicious transactions with a total of R1,237,500. These payments were made from  28 August 2018 to 1 October 2020 to four different accounts.

Du Plessis established these accounts belonged to advocate Caitlin Bowen, life partner of Mohamadally Hanware. According to Du Plessis, she provided a statement in which she confirms that these payments were made by Modack, allegedly for legal services rendered to him.

Du Plessis also found the credit reference on her statement reflected only one “GV”; thereafter it was always NM, or Modack.

Hanware made a statement stating that about R450,000 of these payments were intended for him and were made by Modack.

“Both Hanware and Adv Bowen deny that the payments were meant for Vearey,” Du Plessis said.

Further investigation into Empire Investment Cars revealed the director of the company was Yaseen Modack, up to 8 May 2020. That has since changed to Mogamad Adiel Mukadam.

“I contacted Dominique Celeste McLachlan who assisted with the change of directorship. She provided me with a statement. What is important in her statement is an email forwarded to her by Yaseen Modack. He informs her that Nafiz instructed him to ask her to assist in the change of ownership and to backdate it a year.

“A witness also stated that he received payments from Nafiz Modack. Investigations showed that these payments were also made from Empire Investment FNB account number 62773345733,” Du Plessis found.

According to his affidavit, there were 50 transactions to the value of R188,900. These transactions were made between 7 August 2018 and 16 October 2020. Du Plessis’ affidavit further revealed that a witness indicated the payments were for tracking cellphones, which he did for Nafiz Modack.

Following these revelations, interviews were conducted with Yaseen Modack and Mukadam, by means of warning statements.

Mukadam, in his warning statement, on 31 May 2021, said he bought the company from Yaseen Modack on 5 May 2018 for R80,000 and is still paying off the instalments. But he couldn’t explain why the date of ownership was backdated a year.

Du Plessis also established that Mukadam receives a monthly salary from Empire Investments to the value of R100,000 which commenced on 7 August 2020.

Asked about payment made from the account to different persons he answered:

Regarding Zane Kilian: “I am not aware of any payments made to Zane Kilian.”

Regarding Calvin Rafadi: “I choose to remain silent.”

Regarding Ricardo Morgan: “It was for procurement of PPE equipment.”

Regarding Amaal Jantjies: “I elect to remain silent.”

Regarding Caitlin Bowen: “I would like to remain silent.”

Yaseen Modack, in his warning statement dated 1 June 2021, confirmed he sold Empire Investment to Mukadam in May 2019 for R100,000 in cash.

When asked about payments made from the account to different persons of interest while he was director, he replied:

Regarding Kilian: “I don’t think there was any payments made to him while I was the director.”

Regarding Rafadi: “No I can’t [say that I did], I know who [he] is and that he is a tracer of motor vehicles.”

Regarding Morgan: “No, but I know him”

Regarding Bowen: “That was an investigation done with Crime Intelligence.” 

On further investigation into the money trail, Du Plessis discovered that opening documents of Empire Investment show a financial statement filed by RR Accounting Services. The chartered accountant who signed the statement is Natasha Kinnear.

“The director of RR Accounting Services, Reza van Oudtshoorn, confirmed to Colonel Eddie Clark on 30 June 2021 that his company did the financial statement and that it was done on request of Nafiz Modack. Van Oudtshoorn also confirmed the statement was made by Natasha Kinnear, one of his partners currently in Gauteng.

“I managed to trace Natasha Kinnear. She was interviewed and denied compiling the report and states it is a fraudulent document,” he said.

Du Plessis also obtained a warning statement from Rehana Ishmael, wife of Nafiz Modack. She confirmed 57 payments to the value of R455,200  received from Empire Investments Cars into her personal account and business account, Bionic Hair.

“It is clear from the investigations and interviews conducted that Yaseen Modack, Adiel Mukadam and Reza van Oudtshoorn acted in concert to disguise the interest of Nafiz Modack in Empire Investment Cars and that the Empire Investment account was used for criminal activities,” Du Plessis said. 

The five accused are back in court on Monday, 11 October. DM/MC