There is a probability that the hoax emails allegedly fabricated by former spy boss Billy Masetlha and his two co-accused were created by an amateur, the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court heard on Tuesday.
Masetlha, IT specialist Muziwendoda Kunene and former National Intelligence Agency (NIA) manager for electronic surveillance Funokwakhe Madlala are facing charges of fraud amounting to R152 000.
The charges relate to alleged hoax emails implicating senior African National Congress members in a conspiracy against former deputy president Jacob Zuma.
State witness Daniel Myburgh said, on his second day of testimony, that the emails he was tasked with investigating had technical mistakes, such as double brackets, which an expert would have spotted.
This was in reply to a question by Masetlha’s defence attorney, Neil Tuchten, on whether the emails might have been created by someone who was ignorant about email protocol, as the accused were experts in their respective fields.
When Tuchten asked why someone would go to the trouble of fabricating the emails, Myburgh said: ”In the light of the content, it would be done to mislead.”
Myburgh testified on Monday that because he was given hard copies of the electronic communication, he had limitations as he could not trace the electronic route of the emails.
He concluded in his report, after analysis, that a large portion of the emails and chat-room communication was fabricated.
The three accused put forward an application of admission regarding the report by formally admitting that the content of the report (that the emails were fabricated) was correct because the ones given to Myburgh were not the ones allegedly intercepted.
”The admission does not include an admission that any person ever gave out and/or pretended that any of the documents discussed in the said exhibits were supposedly intercepted by the NIA,” the admission read.
Kunene was allegedly paid the R152 000 to intercept certain emails between certain individuals and hand over the information to Masetlha. Madlala was allegedly the courier who made sure they reached Masetlha.
Kunene’s plea explanation said that the emails he had intercepted, as hired to do so by the NIA, were not the ones in the state’s possession. Masetlha also denied, in his plea explanation, that he was handed any of the documents referred to in the charge sheet.
Myburgh said out of 109 emails, only five had no mistakes.
The case was set down to continue next year from February 25 to 27. — Sapa