Cape Town - A new bid for freedom by the alleged “money man” for underworld kingpin, Nafiz Modack, has been denied by the Western Cape High Court.
Faried van der Schyff will now have to wait several years before he can go on trial as his main co-accused, Modack, is appearing on a separate charge.
Van der Schyff and Modack were arrested alongside Ruwaida Modack, Yaseen Modack, Bashier Syce, Layla Bedderson, Dominique McLachlan and Kulsum van der Schyff by the Hawks several years ago for allegedly defrauding SA Revenue service (Sars) out of R46 million.
But shortly before this arrest Modack was arrested on a separate charge relating to the death of slain Anti-Gang Unit detective Charl Kinnear.
While others in the group were released on bail Van der Schyff’s application was unsuccessful and he has to wait for his trial to be heard.
However, in earlier appearances, it unravelled that Modack cannot be on trial for two different cases at the same time and the first case is set to take years to be completed.
It is understood that Van der Schyff brought his application attributable to the undue lengthy imprisonment he will face while waiting for his trial, the lack of facilities for him to view electronic information relating to his case and his wife’s deteriorating health.
In the application, Van der Schyff highlighted his wife’s medical conditions and said he needed to sell his house below the market value to avoid a sale in execution, in order to settle the arrears on the bond.
“His wife bought another property, which according to him, was a bad decision as it was in an unsafe area for her to be alone. The other house, which his wife owned, faces a foreclosure because of arrears. He was the breadwinner before his incarceration. He had to sell assets at major losses. His policies had lapsed. His car was repossessed. His overdraft was cancelled. There were outstanding doctors and hospital bills, security accounts and there were running costs for subsistence. His son had to sell some of his assets in order to help cover some bills,” the court papers stated.
Western Cape High Court judge Daniel Thulare said there was nothing exceptional about his circumstances.
“Almost every breadwinner who is incarcerated leaves behind a financial void which adversely affects those who depended on such person. Similarly, the mystery of life is that all people live with one or other health issues.
“Life is so mysterious that some are actually dying from covert illnesses without even knowing it, until their death is pronounced,” said Thulare as he dismissed Faried’s application.