/ 10 October 2007

Nassif plea-bargain expected

Former security chief of the late Brett Kebble, Clinton Nassif, is expected to enter into a plea bargain agreement on Wednesday with the Scorpions after he was arrested in a drug-dealing case.

On Tuesday, 39-year-old Nassif was added to the list of accused in a drug case that includes Kebble murder-accused Glenn Agliotti, and four others.

Scorpions prosecutor Gerrie Nel asked a Germiston court to reconvene on Wednesday to allow the prosecution to finalise negotiations with Nassif.

Magistrate James van Wyk also postponed the start of trial for Agliotti, Stephanos Paparas, his father Dimitrio Paparas and Stanley Poonin, until March 4 2008.

This came after Nel said ”new facts” in the case made it impossible to proceed with the trial.

The accused face drug-dealing charges for their alleged involvement in a syndicate on the verge of exporting R250-million worth of drugs to the United States.

Investigators seized 1 114kg of dagga and 2 064kg of hashish at the time of their arrest.

On July 7 last year the Scorpions arrested Lesley Allan Curtis, Christiaan Alblas, Pedro Marques, Dimitrio Paparas and Poonin during a raid on a self-storage facility in Alberton.

Stephanos Paparas handed himself over to police on July 13.

Agliotti — who is allegedly the ”landlord” in charge of the smuggling network — was later added to the charge sheet.

Curtis, a Canadian, and South Africans Alblas and Marques turned state witnesses in the case.

Agliotti — a friend of police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi — is due to appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on January 22 for the murder of Kebble.

Nassif has turned state witness against Agliotti in the Kebble murder trial.

Meanwhile, the Star reported that Agliotti is under pressure to take the stand against Selebi.

Agliotti told the paper on Tuesday that there would not be any deals with the state.

The Star said Agliotti had been given several deadlines to agree to a deal with the Scorpions. The paper said it understood that the Paparas family were also offered deals in exchange for their evidence against Selebi. – Sapa