Cellphone extraction reports take centre stage in Booysen, Modack trials

CAPE TOWN - Cellphone extraction reports took centre stage in the high-profile trials against alleged underworld rivals Jerome "Donkie" Booysen and Nafiz Modack this week.

Booysen is on trial, along with 13 co-accused who face 36 charges for the murder of "steroid king" Brian Wainstein and various other crimes related to allegedly running a criminal enterprise.

Modack and his 14 co-accused face 124 charges related to numerous crimes, including the murder of top cop, Charl Kinnear.

Booysen's attorney, Amanda Nel, tried to cast doubt on cellphone evidence presented by the State to implicate her clients, who include another alleged underworld figure, Mark Lifman.

Hawks officer, Mias Engelbrecht, faced cross-examination from Nel after he presented cellphone evidence from the phones of a State witness, who cannot be named.

The witness previously testified that he helped Lifman, Booysen and another accused, Andre Naude, to murder Wainstein, who was shot dead inside his Constantia home in 2017.

Engelbrecht presented the court with a report containing a list of phone calls, Google searches and voice recordings taken from the witness's cellphone.

The evidence presented in court showed that Naude called the witness numerous times in 2017.

Nel questioned the authenticity of the voice recordings, saying the witness used various cellphone applications that could easily be used to tamper with the evidence.

Meanwhile, in the Modack matter, the State continued to present evidence implicating Zane Kilian, one of Modack's co-accused, for tracking Kinnear thousands of times before his murder.

Hawks officer, Captain Edward du Plessis, showed the court WhatsApp messages retrieved from three of Kilian's cellphones.

It is the State's case that Kilian used a tracking platform to provide Modack with the locations of Kinnear and was part of a plot to have him murdered.

Evidence gathered by Du Plessis showed that Kilian was in contact with attorney, Eric Bryer, shortly before his arrest on 22 September 2020, just four days after Kinnear's murder outside his Bishop Lavis home.

One of the messages from Bryer to Kilian reads: "Send bank details... keep myself, you and the boss covered."

Other messages include: "Whoever paid must say they bought masks from me..." and "Please ask the big boss to call me."

A message from Bryer to Kilian shortly after the acussed's arrest, reads: "Don't say anything."

Another co-accused in the trial, Ricardo Morgan, who faces charges of money laundering, is also mentioned in the messages.

Later in the week, the court heard how Modack agreed to bribe high-ranking police officers, Jeremy Vearey and Kinnear.

Modack alleges he paid Vearey up to R3 million in bribes over a one-year period between 2018 and 2019.

The allegations were made in statements Modack handed to police, which were then presented as State evidence of corruption and defeating the ends of justice court this week.

In the statements, Modack claims he was contacted by a middleman, Mohamedaly Hanware, in 2018 to develop a corrupt relationship with Vearey and Kinnear.

Hanware contacted Modack after the Anti-Gang Unit, led at that time by Vearey and Kinnear, performed a raid at Modack's home and seized various firearms from his security guards.

Modack claims Hanware told him Vearey and Kinnear were prepared to return the weapons for a price.

He stated that he was present when Hanware phoned Vearey to arrange for the payment to be made.

The State's evidence presented in court showed that Modack then proceeded to make various payments to Hanware's wife, Caitlyn Bowen, with payment references to Vearey.

However, Du Plessis told the court the Hawks' investigations showed no bank payments were made to Vearey as Modack's money trail ended with Bowen.

Modack stated he agreed to the alleged bribes because he wanted to prove that Vearey and Kinnear were corrupt.

He claims Kinnear also collected a bag of money from him following a meeting in Cape Town CBD.

Speaking on CapeTalk's Afternoon Drive with John Maytham, Vearey said Modack was the victim of a "long con" by Hanware and Bowen.

Vearey said he was informed of Hanware's con by an inside source and immediately reported the matter before contacting Kinnear to let him know.

He said he then confronted Hanware after Kinnear had agreed to play along with the long con in order to further infiltrate Modack's enterprise.

Vearey, who is set to be called to testify, insists that no money was ever transferred to him or Kinnear.

Both trials will continue in the Western Cape High Court next week.