Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and police National Commissioner Bheki Cele have been notified that the lawyer for Czech fraud-accused Radovan Krejcir is suing the state for more than R2-million in damages relating to the raid at Krejcir’s Bedfordview home.
“They have received the notification and in two weeks summons can be issued and then the case can take course,” Piet du Plessis, of BDK Attorneys, said on Wednesday. “Papers will be exchanged and then the matter will be set for a trial, but I can’t say when we expect to be in court. But it’s not a short-term issue.”
The civil suit was on behalf of Krejcir’s 18-year-old son, Dennis, Czech visitor Miloslav Potiska, Krejcir’s employee Michael Arsiotis, and Arsiotis’s partner, Tracey Swanepoel.
Du Plessis said Krejcir’s son was claiming R1-million in damages, Arsiotis and Potiska were each seeking R500 000, and Swanepoel R200 000.
The four, who were in the house at the time of the raid in March, claimed they were abducted, assaulted and harassed by the authorities, who were allegedly acting on the instruction of investigator Paul O’Sullivan.
“When the police penetrated the house, they [allegedly] tied Dennis with cables, took him away, threatened him and then later released him,” said Du Plessis.
The others were also abducted and “unlawfully handled”, he said.
Swanepoel and Arsiotis claimed that no search warrant or warrant for arrest was shown to them.
Unclear
It was unclear exactly what role O’Sullivan played in the investigation, but Hawks spokesperson McIntosh Polela said there was nothing untoward about it and that he helped police with an alleged hit list found during the raid.
The list had four names on it — those of state prosecutor Riegal du Toit, businessman Cyril Beeka, doctor Marian Tupy and O’Sullivan.
Du Toit was involved in the murder investigation of Krejcir’s associate, Uwe Gemballa. The German supercar conversion specialist was linked to former Teazers boss Lolly Jackson, who was killed last year.
Before Jackson died, he and Krejcir allegedly held talks over a Gemballa franchise deal.
Gemballa (55) disappeared after arriving at OR Tambo International Airport in February last year. His body was found in a shallow grave in Pretoria in October.
The three men linked to his murder appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on April 5 when the case was postponed to June 8. Garlond Holworthy (32), Thabo Mohapi (36) and Kagiso Linken (29) will remain in custody until then.
Plea agreement
Last year, Thabiso Melvin Mpye (29) was convicted and sentenced in a plea agreement in the high court in Johannesburg for his involvement in the Gemballa murder. He pleaded guilty to kidnapping and killing the businessman.
Beeka was shot dead in a drive-by shooting in Cape Town last month.
Tupy, a urologist, made a deal with the state to testify against Krejcir. He pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and admitted to falsifying medical records to show that Krejcir suffered from cancer.
He received a suspended sentence in return for turning state’s witness.
It is alleged that Krejcir intended using the cancer diagnosis to avoid being extradited back to the Czech Republic where he is allegedly a wanted man.
Krejcir is out on R500 000 bail for the alleged R4,5-million insurance scam and is expected to appear in court again on July 8. — Sapa