Bail Decision On Money Launderers Postponed

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Bail Decision On Money Launderers Postponed

9:34 CAT | 14 Jan 2016

In file Club of Mozambique.

A court in the South African town of Barberton has again postponed a decision on whether to grant bail to two Mozambicans arrested at the Lebombo border post on Christmas Day as they attempted to smuggle the equivalent of 7.3 million US dollars into South Africa in dollar, euro and rand banknotes.

The two men, Assane Momad and Abdul Ahmed, were arrested after the police received an anonymous tip-off. When their Toyota Hilux was searched, the police found the smuggled money hidden in a concealed compartment.

Since then South African prosecutors have been trying to establish where the money came from, and what it was to be used for. Concern has been expressed in some of the South African media that the money might have been intended to finance terrorist activities.

According to a report carried by the independent Mozambican television station STV, the court initially intended to take a decision on the men’s bail application on Tuesday, but the prosecutor successfully argued for a 24 hour postponement in order to present new evidence. It seems likely that the prosecution will present witnesses from the South African immigrations service and from the Mozambican authorities.

One senior Mozambican law officer, Assistant Attorney General Abelia Chouquela, is already in South Africa, assisting the prosecution.

One new piece of information that came to light on Tuesday is that Momad owns no fewer than five passports. One of them contains a valid entry visa for Dubai, where he is said to own a house.

On at least two previous occasions, people trafficking money out of southern Africa have been intercepted on the way to Dubai. Thus in December 2010, Mozambican businessman Momed Khalid Ayoob was detained in Swaziland in possession of 18 million rands in banknotes (equivalent to 2.6 million US dollars at the exchange rate of the time).

He admitted that he was taking the money to Dubai. The Swazi authorities confiscated the money, and started criminal proceedings against Ayoob. That case never reached its conclusion because, in April 2012, Ayoob was gunned down by an unidentified assailant outside a mosque in central Maputo.

In a more recent case, in August 2015, eight men were arrested when they tried to smuggle 23 million rands and 3.77 million dollars in banknotes in 12 pieces of luggage on a plane from Johannesburg to Dubai. There were suggestions at the time that the money was on its way to Pakistan, and that some of it was intended for the terrorists of the self-styled “Islamic State” (ISIS or Daesh).

South African records also show that Momad and Ahmed have travelled frequently between Mozambican and South Africa, a piece of information that destroyed the claim by the men’s defence lawyer that Ahmed was merely a casual passenger in the car driven by Momad.

The prosecution fears that, if bail is granted, the two men will flee the country.

The defence has suggested that bail be set at 90,000 rands (about 5,000 US dollars, at current exchange rates) for Momad, and 20,000 rands for Ahmed. These are tiny sums for men who were hiding millions of dollars in banknotes in their car.

Defence lawyer Phillip Naude claimed there was no evidence that the money had been stolen. He claimed it was the fruit of legitimate sales of electrical appliances and vehicles. This contradicts the original claim made by Momad to the public Mozambican television channel, TVM, that the money came from the sale of cell phones.

The lawyer said his clients had come to South Africa to do some shopping, and they feared that in Mozambique they might be kidnapped.

Source: AIM