Crime Correspondent: South Africa

Martin Wanden’s six-bedroom home is to be auctioned after being seized by the Asset Forfeiture Unit.

Martin Wanden’s six-bedroom home with sweeping sea views at Llandudno, Cape Town, is to be auctioned after being seized by the Asset Forfeiture Unit.Wanden is on trial in the Cork Circuit Criminal Court after being arrested in July last year — while bobbing in the sea, off the Irish coast, along with bales of cocaine worth R1-billion. The drug bust set off an international probe, involving authorities in SA, who investigated alleged money laundering, and the US, UK and Spain. authorities hope the luxury home, which boasts a spa-bath, a wraparound terrace with a pool, four-car garage and views of the coast, will fetch around R14-million. An inflatable boat and a black Range Rover — reportedly given to the builder of the house by Wanden’s wife, Sonya (who was found hanged this year in a psychiatric hospital in Britain) when she tried to dispose of their assets. Wanden has denied being the driver of the boat that capsized with the drugs about 48km off the west Cork coast.Wanden told the Cork Circuit Criminal Court that he had been camping when he received a call from a friend, Charles Goldie, who claimed to be experiencing difficulty while fishing at sea. Wanden claimed an argument broke out between him and Goldie when one of three men transferred drugs onto the boat he took to rescue them. He said he was pushed into the capsized boat and left stranded at sea with the drugs.Jonathan Smiedt, of ClareMart Auction Group who will be auctioning the mansion, said they had received five offers for the house — four of them local.The AFU’s Hermione Cronje said this was the second case the unit had helped a foreign government wrap up. The first case was a request from the Nigerian government involving a politician, Diepreye Alamiyeseigha, who was embroiled in a money-laundering scandal in 2006. “This sends out a message to criminals trying to hide the proceeds of their crimes that South Africa is not a haven for them,” said Cronje.

Martin Wanden’s six-bedroom home is to be auctioned after being seized by the Asset Forfeiture Unit.

Martin Wanden’s six-bedroom home with sweeping sea views at Llandudno, Cape Town, is to be auctioned after being seized by the Asset Forfeit...

Glenn Agliotti and the Jackie Selebi connection.

Drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti, accused of murdering mining tycoon Brett Kebble, was postponed yesterday until July 2 following an agreement between the state and the defence, as there had been "other developments". The Scorpions' investigating director, advocate Thanda Mngwengwe, told Johannesburg magistrate Simon Radasi that the Agliotti murder trial was interlinked with other matters, hence the need for a postponement. The person who usually leads the prosecution against Agliotti, advocate Gerrie Nel, was not present yesterday. Agliotti's counsel, Lawrence Hodes, told the court that there had been distractions in the past two weeks that had caused delays. It is possible he was referring to the investigation of suspended police commissioner Jackie Selebi . Selebi has admitted knowing Agliotti, but denied he knew Agli-otti was involved in criminal activities. It has been reported that Agliotti telephoned Selebi from the scene of Kebble's murder in September 2005. In its indictment filed with the Pretoria High Court, where Selebi failed to prevent the National Prosecuting Authority from serving a warrant for his arrest, the state claimed Selebi received payments from Agliotti in return for favours. Kebble was killed when his car was sprayed with bullets in Johannesburg in 2005. When Agliotti was arrested for the murder, in November 2006, he claimed that the killing had been an "assisted suicide". Agliotti said there were many dry runs before the murder itself. He said Kebble had initially planned to drug his pilot, causing his plane to crash, but later opted for a "botched car hijacking instead" Agliotti, who is under house arrest, struck a plea bargain with the state last month on drug-dealing charges. He pleaded guilty in the Germiston Magistrate's Court to receiving R150000 from Steve Paparas, in exchange for transporting and storing drugs . He was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, suspended for five years, and fined R300000. He agreed to pay R200000 into the criminal asset recovery account. Agliotti will remain under house arrest. Paparas and two others will appear in the R250m drug case in March.

Glenn Agliotti and the Jackie Selebi connection.

Drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti, accused of murdering mining tycoon Brett Kebble, was postponed yesterday until July 2 following an agreement...

Glenn Agliotti

Intelligence information from British law and order authorities had two years ago identified Cape Town harbour as a key shipment point of dr...

Refilwe Mahuma,

Refilwe Mahuma, a senior registry clerk, was surprised by the presence of police at 11am on Friday at her office, where she was served with a warrant for her arrest for allegedly being responsible for the unlawful release of people who were supposed to remain in custody. The 44-year-old mother-of-four is the latest department of justice employee to be arrested for being part of a syndicate that has been releasing convicted prisoners for a fee. Nicole Dawson and Andre Trevor Ali, appeals clerks at the Johannesburg magistrate's court, were arrested in 2007 for their involvement in the syndicate and are out on bail. Mahuma applied for bail at the Johannesburg magistrate's court on Monday. The application will resume on Thursday. A co-worker of hers at the High Court, who is also allegedly involved in the syndicate, was due to be arrested on Tuesday. The operation is believed to have been going on for about 10 years, and the department of justice and the department of correctional services are expected to do an audit on the prisoners released on appeal during those years. An investigation would then be launched to determine whether those appeals were genuine, and those prisoners could be rearrested if they were found to have been released fraudulently. On Monday, the investigating officer in the matter told the court how Mahuma was the one doing the "recruiting" for the syndicate. In getting "clients", Inspector Charles Bachelor testified, Mahuma would visit Johannesburg Prison and arrange with the families of the convicted prisoner for their release. The falsified documents would be sent from the High Court to Dawson and Ali at the Johannesburg magistrate's court, who would then fax them to Correctional Services, stating that a prisoner's appeal had been granted. Bachelor said the syndicate comprised four people, with Mahuma being the leader. He added that, for a fee of R50 000, a prisoner was guaranteed his freedom. "The families would meet with the accused (Mahuma) outside the High Court or at the bank, where money would exchange hands," Bachelor said. The syndicate is alleged to have freed 12 prisoners, and Bachelor said seven of those, freed from 2006 up until April 2007, were members of the feared Eldorado Park gang the Majimbos. Bachelor said the syndicate made an agreement on what to do should one of them be arrested after they read a newspaper article that police were investigating the matter. "They met that night to discuss that if one of them is arrested, he or she should plead guilty and be sent to prison. The J1 (a warrant of liberty used to free prisoners fraudulently) would be sent to prison by the remaining three members of the syndicate for his or her release," he testified.

Refilwe Mahuma,

Refilwe Mahuma, a senior registry clerk, was surprised by the presence of police at 11am on Friday at her office, where she was served with ...

John Tutton, Tommy McKinnon.

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJXM1rsv5uU60_s6a1WNSqT_tP_w-80uVGp-pqNDbSuK0u5iNHItPMl4tjy2FreavMWEX0UOKlr8RZTdjH7sIesJEFGDDZumttTOPCoOtF9sJxWcz9C7EZJIPrA34DBXtRNkniXB1c4WA/s1600-h/cocaine1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5147638161573864610" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJXM1rsv5uU60_s6a1WNSqT_tP_w-80uVGp-pqNDbSuK0u5iNHItPMl4tjy2FreavMWEX0UOKlr8RZTdjH7sIesJEFGDDZumttTOPCoOtF9sJxWcz9C7EZJIPrA34DBXtRNkniXB1c4WA/s320/cocaine1.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a> John Tutton and Tommy McKinnon. jailed for 30 years sentenced Britons John Tutton, 56, and Tony Mackinnon, 35, to 30-year jail terms was told by South Africa's leading anti-drug fighter on Friday. At the end of South Africa's biggest drug trial, regional magistrate Fred Heuer, sitting in Camperdown, imposed 20-year sentences for dealing in 8,1 tons of dagga, and 20-year terms for dealing in 150kg of cocaine. The cocaine, seized at Tongaat, was worth R52,5-million and the dagga, seized at Felixstowe harbour, England, R11-million. Ten years of one sentence is to run concurrently with the other, giving the men effective terms of 30 years each. Convicted of smuggling tonnes of cocaine from South Africa. Police seized a staggering 178 kilos of pure cocaine and eight tonnes of cannabis worth nearly s5million - all of it destined for the UK. The bust stopped a smuggling operation which saw an estimated s350million of drugs transported over six years - the second biggest haul in South African history.

John Tutton, Tommy McKinnon.

John Tutton and Tommy McKinnon. jailed for 30 years sentenced Britons John Tutton, 56, and Tony Mackinnon, 35, to 30-year jail terms was tol...