Cape Town - A Durban cop who brazenly testified in court about colluding with alleged underworld kingpin, Nafiz Modack, during extortion charges has been dismissed for bringing the State into disrepute, but says he will appeal the decision.
The testimony of Warrant Officer Kelvin Shunmugan in the Western Cape High Court sent tongues wagging earlier this year when he was called to testify about an arrest of a State witness who claimed he was being extorted my Modack’s “Hells Angels”.
The State witness was linked to attorney William Booth and alleged that Durban businessman, Shanil Maharaj, had hired Modack to recover over R500 000 from him following a failed investment deal.
Maharaj argued in court that he believed the recovery was a “legal collection”. However, the plot thickened when the State revealed that Modack's co-accused, Jacques Cronje, had extorted the money from Mr C, the witness, and threatened to kill him and his family, placing a bounty of R300 000 on their heads.
According to Maharaj, Modack facilitated his introduction to Shunmugan to pursue a criminal case against Mr C.
Shunmugan's testimony took a startling turn when he admitted to being impressed by Modack’s security detail and showed eagerness to meet Modack’s affiliate, Anwar Gallie.
Shunmugan said: "In Durban, we follow on Facebook what is happening in Cape Town. He [Modack] was a small guy taking on the giants and was the Robin Hood of Cape Town."
The officer admitted to hearing Gallie refer to Modack as “Pablo” during video calls, a nod to notorious Colombian drug lord, Pablo Escobar.
Gallie, also known as “Gustavo”, had been arrested with Modack years earlier on gun-related charges.
Though Shunmugan maintained he did not meet Modack in person, he confirmed contact via cellphone.
He admitted to tracing Mr C but could not justify why Mr C could not be detained following his arrest.
Judge Robert Henney labelled his actions as unlawful and said he believed the cop appeared to be seeking favour with Modack.
Police spokesperson, Robert Netshuinda, confirmed Shunmugan's dismissal.
Despite this, Shunmugan plans to appeal the decision, asserting that Judge Henney's comments were unfair.
He maintains he only passed a case number to police colleagues in Cape Town and denies any connections with Modack.
Furthermore, he claimed to be unaware of Modack's involvement in the murder of Anti-Gang Unit detective Charl Kinnear.
Shunmugan also said he was oblivious to Maharaj’s false criminal case against the State witness and noted that Maharaj later apologised for his actions.
mahira.duval@inl.co.za
Cape Argus