CAPE TOWN – Alleged underworld figure Nafiz Modack has made startling claims in the Western Cape High Court, alleging that a senior police officer demanded R500,000 from him in exchange for avoiding arrest. The revelation came during Modack's ongoing trial for the murder of Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear, a case that has captivated the nation.
Modack testified that Colonel Eddie Clarke, one of the detectives involved in the Kinnear investigation, made the alleged demand. He stated that he subsequently opened a case of corruption against Clarke, providing case numbers to the court. He claims: “I got info that they wanted to assassinate me.”
In an explosive third day of testimony, Modack admitted to hiring Zane Kilian, his co-accused, to "ping" the cellphone of the slain Kinnear. However, Modack maintains that this was part of a plot to protect himself, not to harm Kinnear.
Modack told the court that he wanted to track Kinnear to see if he was meeting with alleged Sexy Boys gang boss Jerome “Donkie” Booysen. He claims that Booysen and Kinnear were conspiring to murder him. This accusation follows Modack's earlier testimony that the late Mark Lifman instructed former top cop Jeremy Vearey to put a hit on him.
Modack outlined his relationship with Kilian, a former rugby player, and vehemently denied instructing Kilian to ping Kinnear on the day of his murder. Kilian is charged alongside Modack and 13 others in the sprawling underworld trial, which centres on the murder of Kinnear, who was shot and killed outside his Bishop Lavis home in September 2020.
The group collectively faces 124 charges, many of which involve the illegal interception of cellphone information. The State's case alleges that Kilian used the LAD platform to trace various targets identified by Modack, including Kinnear and criminal attorney William Booth.
The prosecution argues that the pinging of Kinnear's phone and the tracing of his personal details ultimately led the lone gunman to Kinnear's home on the day of the assassination.
Addressing the court, Modack says he did not know that Kinnear was killed on the day of the shooting, but claims Advocate Bruce Hendricks informed him.
Modack said after Kinnear’s murder, he was questioned by the Hawks who believed he was behind the shooting on the home of Bradley Goldblatt, a State witness in the trial. But he says at the time he was never questioned about Kinnear’s murder.
The trial continues.
