O’Sullivan and co-accused deny kidnapping, extortion charges

Forensic consultant Paul O’Sullivan and his former colleague Melissa Naidu on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to fraud and the kidnapping and extortion of Cora van der Merwe in the Randburg Regional Court, west of Johannesburg, on Thursday.

Gauteng head of the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation (aka the Hawks) Major General Prince Mokotedi, Captain Bonisile Mkupa, and Warrant Officer Kobus Vlok – who are investigating multiple cases against O’Sullivan  – were also there to hear it.

O’Sullivan and Naidu are accused of taking Van der Merwe from the chambers of Ronald Bobroff & Partners Incorporated during October 2014 in the course of their investigation into the leak of documents from the Bobroffs.

The leak to then Moneyweb journalist Tony Beamish eventually uncovered a massive fraud of the Road Accident Fund (RAF), eventually estimated at more than R178 million by the RAF committed by Ronald Bobroff and son Darren, both now having fled to Australia.

The law firm was placed under curatorship and the Bobroffs were disbarred.

Investigating officer Captain Ngwako Mukovhi of the police’s Commercial Crimes Branch – which falls under the Hawks – was the first State witness to take the stand.

Defence advocate Zirk Pansegrouw lost no time in laying the groundwork for a malicious prosecution, which was referred to in the accused’s warning statements.

Pansegrouw managed to elicit from Mukovhi that the accused cooperated “very well” with the investigation and noted that while he was a commercial crimes specialist, the docket was handed to him by Mokotedi and Vlok was assigned to assist in the investigation.

Mukovhi stated the docket would normally have gone to the police station’s detectives where it had been registered and he didn’t know why he was chosen to investigate it.

The 29-year veteran also stated, in his opinion, there was no basis for the extortion charge. However, it was up to the National Prosecuting Authority what charges to bring.

Mukovhi also couldn’t explain why there was a nearly 19-month gap between the incident and Van der Merwe’s statement being taken. There was another two-month gap between the taking of Van der Merwe’s statement, and registering the docket.

Van der Merwe was the second State witness to take the stand, and said while working for the Bobroffs, she had uncovered many instances of tax fraud.

She stated her communication with Beamish had started when he asked her for comment on a story he was working on, however, Ronald had warned her any communication with him would cost her her job after a case Ronald lost had cost him half a million rand.

However, said Van der Merwe, she and Beamish eventually began texting on a daily basis.

Van der Merwe testified she had been advised by advocate Schalk van der Sandt to make copies of all the evidence she uncovered, and had given it to the Hawks, Law Society, and the RAF  as a protected disclosure. She didn’t say if this was before or after her encounter with O’Sullivan.

It was while testifying about O’Sullivan and Naidu’s interrogation of her that Van der Merwe broke down on the stand, saying she had been screamed at and threatened her children would be taken away from her.

Van der Merwe also testified that, to her, O’Sullivan was “just another investigator” and she was familiar with the process, having undergone it and lie detector tests on many occasions while employed by the Bobroffs’ law firm.

Her testimony so far is at odds with her statement, however, wherein Van der Merwe stated she made protected disclosures to Beamish and Van der Sandt.

Van der Merwe also stated in her statement she believed O’Sullivan to be a police officer, yet transcripts of the interview show O’Sullivan introduced himself as a forensic consultant within the first minute of meeting her.

The trial is expected to continue on Thursday.

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