Cape Town - The man who hired Nafiz Modack’s “Hell’s Angels” to recover money he had lost in an investment deal has taken the stand against him in the Western Cape High Court.
Shanil Maharaj testified from his home town of Durban as he confirmed the testimony of another witness who testified earlier this week, saying that he fled the country out of fear.
During the explosive testimony, the witness, only known as Mr C, told the court he sought help from criminal lawyer William Booth as he came under attack by Modack’s alleged henchman, Jacques Cronje.
The fearful witness, who fled to Dubai amid a string of incidents dating back to 2020, said in 2018 he met with Maharaj, who invested R545000 in what was deemed a “high-risk investment”.
He claims Maharaj had requested a strategy change, which resulted in a quick loss, and he became angry.
The witness said Maharaj demanded he be paid his money back and allegedly warned him that “Hell’s Angels” were coming to collect his money.
He said he was later forced by Cronje to transfer R90000 to a bank account and made to sign an agreement to pay the funds.
In his testimony yesterday, Maharaj said he sought help from a “Mr Reddy”, who put him in contact with Modack. An agreement was made that he would pay Modack 20% of the handling fee if the money was retrieved.
But he allegedly wanted Modack to recover over R2 million from Mr C as he believed this was owed to him.
While Mr C never named Modack, only saying that he received death threats from Cronje, Maharaj confirmed Modack was the man contracted to recover the funds.
Maharaj admitted sending Mr C a barrage of threatening messages and also provided his WhatsApp texts with Modack to prove Modack was allegedly behind the extortion.
Earlier this week, Mr C told the court he had forgiven Maharaj and just wanted to move on with his life.
“This thing turned my life upside down. I forgave him. Shanil called me to say he embraced Islam and asked maaf (forgiveness).”
Meanwhile Judge Robert Henney ruled that the ping evidence as part of the trial would be considered amid the admissions made by Modack’s co-accused, Zane Kilian, at the start of the trial confirming that he had pinged phones for Modack.
The State is expected to bring a ping expert to court next week.
mahira.duval@inl.co.za
Cape Argus