Businessman, gun collector in dock
A prominent Western Cape businessman and a firearm collector have appeared in court in connection with the sale of illegal firearms.
|||Cape Town - A prominent Western Cape businessman, as well as a firearm collector and expert, appeared together in a court in Cape Town on Friday, facing multiple charges that include fraud, racketeering, corruption, and the theft of firearms and ammunition.
The businessman, Irshaad Laher, and the gun collector, Allan Robert Raves, appeared in the Bellville District Court before Magistrate Ronald Rieckert.
Raves’ case was transferred to the Western Cape High Court for trial and he was ordered to make his first appearance there on November 4 for a pre-trial conference.
Laher was warned to appear in the Bellvile District Court again on October 18 when his case will be transferred to the high court as well.
He is to join Raves at the pre-trial conference in November.
The State was represented by advocates Shareen Riley and Christiaan de Jongh, both attached to the Western Cape Directorate for Public Prosecutions who are to prosecute the two cases combined as one in the high court.
They requested the postponement of Laher’s case to October in order to obtain authority from the National Prosecuting Authority for the racketeering charges against both men.
Laher is out on bail of R100 000 and Raves on R20 000.
Raves recently appeared in the same court with former police colonel Christiaan Lodewyk Prinsloo of Vereeniging, who was jailed for 18 years in plea bargain proceedings on similar charges.
Raves faces 15 counts, including racketeering, corruption, money laundering, three of theft, the unlawful sale or supply of firearms and ammunition, possession of prohibited firearms and ammunition, the illegal possession of firearm parts, erasing the serial number of a firearm, defacing marks on SANDF (SA National Defence Force) firearms, destruction of firearms without authority, damaging or destroying firearms, and failure to keep a proper register of firearms.
Laher faces seven charges, including racketeering, corruption, money laundering, the illegal sale of firearms and ammunition, theft, the possession of prohibited firearms, and the illegal possession of ammunition.
African News Agency