Cape Town - The testimony of former top cop Major-General Jeremy Vearey has been put on hold at the Western Cape High Court as the defence lawyer for Nafiz Modack is not yet ready for the cross-examination.
This was revealed yesterday as Vearey returned to court amid the ongoing underworld trial centred on the murder of his colleague, Charl Kinnear. Last week, Vearey took to the stand and rubbished Modack’s claims that he had top cops on his payroll.
In June this year, a statement made by Modack nearly six years ago resurfaced, claiming Vearey and Kinnear were on his payroll.
In the initial statement captured by Captain Alfred Barker, Modack claims after being released on bail, he was approached by a man known as Mohamed Hanware who claimed he could help Modack get his firearms back by paying cops R150000.
In the investigation by the Hawks, they found that the money was transferred from the bank account of Empire Car Investments into four accounts belonging to the wife of Hanware, Advocate Caitlin Bowen.
Court documents showed various transfers with various payments from 2018 to 2020 using references such as “Gen V” amounting to R587000.
Further investigations revealed that the money trail stopped with the couple.
Vearey told the court that the statement that he received money was false. During proceedings yesterday, Advocate Bash Sibda told the court that during his consultation at Goodwood Prison, he was prevented from playing voice notes during the consultation despite a court order and needed more time as he had also consulted with police officers about Vearey.
Judge Robert Henney said he was not happy with the request but granted the postponement of Vearey’s testimony to November 4.
Cape Argus