The Provincial Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation in North West, Major General Dumisani Mbotho has applauded the judgement by the Johannesburg High court that granted the state a forfeiture order on late last year December of five gold bars weighing approximately 30.295 kg, valued at approximately R9 million on the day of arrest.
The forfeiture was sought following the arrest of Reginald Gerhard Pietersen (47) during a sting operation by the Hawks’ Organised Crime unit at a restaurant in Centurion in 2014, where the suspect paid R1 million in cash for two bars of unwrought gold that he had received from an undercover agent, a few days prior to the arrest.
Efforts to recover the state gold led the investigators to a refinery in Johannesburg where five gold bars, four of which contained most of the chemical components infused into the state gold, were recovered and immediately subjected to a preservation order application which was subsequently granted in March 2015.
Charges were later dropped against Pietersen, however his attempts to recover the gold were unsuccessful when the High court ruled that the five unwrought gold bars valued at approximately R9 million constituted the proceeds of unlawful activities and accordingly, the forfeiture in terms of section 53 of COPA should succeed.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
