The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday granted an interdict against security consultant Paul O’Sullivan, which was applied for by Czech fraud-accused Radovan Krejcir’s lawyer.
An agreement settled on between the parties states O’Sullivan must apologise to lawyer Piet du Plessis, his family and directors of law firm David H Botha, Du Plessis and Kruger, for an email sent to them in March.
In March the court granted an interim order — pending a final hearing — to Du Plessis to stop O’Sullivan from allegedly threatening him and his family with assault. Du Plessis said O’Sullivan sent him an email threatening violence.
O’Sullivan was reportedly involved in the investigation into Krejcir.
Both parties would pay their own legal costs.
In the agreement O’Sullivan put on record “that it was never his intention that the said e-mail should constitute a threat”.
“In conceding that the e-mail was reasonably interpreted as a threat… [O’Sullivan] specifically apologises for involving family members of Du Plessis, in particular Du Plessis’s wife, Cornel, in a matter which had no bearing on her at all.”
According to the court order O’Sullivan has been interdicted from “assaulting, harassing, threatening, intimidating and verbally abusing” Du Plessis, his family, and his law firm’s directors.
Krejcir (42) is being held on a charge of fraud, and being investigated in connection with a series of murders. These include the killing of underworld boss Cyril Beeka in a drive-by shooting in Cape Town in April.
An alleged hit list was found during a raid on Krejcir’s house in Bedfordview, east of Johannesburg. On the list were the names of Beeka, O’Sullivan, state prosecutor Riegal du Toit and a doctor who had made a deal with the state to testify against Krejcir in the fraud case.
The fraud charge relates to a R4.5-million claim Krejcir allegedly made to an insurance company after obtaining medical papers stating he had cancer.
State faces damages claim over Krejcir raid
Meanwhile, in April Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and police National Commissioner Bheki were notified that Du Plessis was suing the state for more than R2-million in damages relating to the raid at Krejcir’s home.
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 R500Â 000, and Swanepoel R200Â 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 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.– Sapa