Siblings of convicted killer Najwa Petersen want to enter into a plea and sentence agreement with the State.
|||Cape Town - Siblings of convicted killer Najwa Petersen want to enter into a plea and sentence agreement with the State in connection with their alleged involvement in fraudulently exporting fruit.
Brothers Waleed Dirk, 36, Yusuf Dirk, 50, and their sister Fairuz Arendse, 48, appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
The trio’s lawyer, Pete Mihalik, was due to argue about the jurisdiction in which the siblings were charged but instead said they wanted to strike a deal with the State.
The charge sheet stipulates that the crimes were allegedly committed in the Northern Cape and that the trio should, by law, be tried in the area where the crime was allegedly committed. If the defence was successful, the presiding officer would strike the case from the court roll.
But that application did not go ahead because the defence submitted a proposal to the State in terms of section 105 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
State advocate Tillette Berry said the State needed time to consult Sars and consider whether they would agree to the plea deal.
The State has charged the trio and Dirk Fruit Supply Okshakati CC, which is represented by Waleed Dirk, with fraud and forgery.
It is alleged that the trio, Najwa Petersen and Shamil Dirk were members of the company.
Petersen was sentenced in February 2009 to 28 years for orchestrating the contract killing of her husband, music icon Taliep Petersen.
The siblings have been charged with 127 counts of fraud for allegedly defrauding a customs export officer and Sars at the Vioolsdrift border post in the Northern Cape when fruit was exported.
The brothers had allegedly also known that documentation supplied to the officials had been forged.
They have been charged with 52 counts of forgery. The trial continues on January 25.
jade.otto@inl.co.za
Cape Argus