A warrant of arrest has been authorised for a brother of Najwa Petersen.
|||Cape Town - A warrant of arrest has been authorised for a brother of Najwa Petersen, who is in prison for the murder of her husband, theatre personality Taliep Petersen.
Yusuf Dirk, 50, has been charged with fraud and forgery relating to fruit exports. He did not appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
His lawyer, Pete Mihalik, told the court Dirk was in Namibia and had encountered “logistical problems” in trying to get to Cape Town.
Mihalik asked that a warrant be authorised but held over until Dirk’s next court date. State advocate Tillette Berry had no objection. Dirk’s younger brother, Waleed, 36, and sister Fairuz Arendse, 48, have also been implicated in the case. They were in the dock on Monday.
Mihalik said the case could be postponed for a month to ensure Dirk’s attendance and so it could be transferred to the Cape Town Regional Court. “The matter was postponed to see if the (State and defence) could reach an agreement. The Director of Public Prosecutions made a proposal and the proposal has been accepted.”
Mihalik said the State had granted the siblings four months to sell off their assets and meet their “fiscal obligations”.
It is understood that a plea and sentence agreement is to be reached.
The State has charged the trio and Dirk Fruit Supply Okshakati cc with fraud and forgery. It is alleged that the trio, Najwa Petersen and Shamil Dirk are members of the company.
The siblings have been charged with 127 counts of fraud and 52 of forgery. It is alleged they defrauded a customs export officer and Sars at the Vioolsdrift border post. The brothers also allegedly knew that documentation supplied to the officials had been forged.
The siblings are due in court on March 25. They are out on warning.
jade.otto@inl.co.za
Cape Argus