Staff Reporter
Two men have appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court after allegedly offering a bribe to Hawks officials so they could release a consignment of cigarettes they were investigating to certify if they had been cleared by customs.
Intiyaz Vahora, 49, and Furkan Farukbhai, 25, from Kuruman and Lesotho respectively made their initial appearance on Thursday facing corruption charges after they allegedly paid the Hawks investigators R70 000 to release the cigarettes and effectively make the case disappear.
Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Lynda Steyn told The Free Stater the cigarettes were being investigated following a tip-off that some illegal activities could be involved.
“At this point we cannot confirm whether the cigarettes are in the country illegally or not,” she said.
“We have made an inquiry with SARS (South Africa Revenue Service) to ascertain the status of the cigarettes and these men came forward and tried to bribe the Hawks officials so they could have the cigarettes.
“So, right now they have been arrested for corruption. We are yet to establish the status of the cigarettes.”
In an earlier statement, Steyn said the Hawks, accompanied by SARS customs officials, visited a storage facility in Estoire in Bloemfontein on Monday after receiving information that large amounts of cigarettes were being kept there under unclear circumstances before being distributed.
There were four people, including Vahora and Farukbhai, when two of the storage units were searched.
A substantial number of boxes containing cigarettes were found in one of the storage units.
The two units were then locked to eliminate tampering while the Hawks and the customs officials continued with their investigation.
However, as the officials were about to leave, the owner of the units is said to have approached one of the Hawks investigators asking him to assist in releasing the cigarette consignment that had just been locked up.
It was also established that the same suspect had approached the manager of the storage facility seeking to have the rental contract disappear.
The Hawks officer played along and met with one of the men and an accomplice on Thursday.
He was paid R70 000 so he could release the cigarettes.
But the pair was immediately arrested.
An additional R100 000 in cash was found inside their vehicle.
They made a brief court appearance and were remanded in custody pending their next appearance on June 18.