State prosecutor Gerrie Nel told the South Gauteng High Court on Wednesday the state would apply to confiscate the former police chief’s assets he acquired through the proceeds of crime.
The Asset Forfeiture Unit’s advocate Suna de Villiers was about to argue on Wednesday what assets the unit is applying for in light of Judge Meyer Joffe’s judgement two weeks ago that found Selebi guilty of corruption.
The exact amount of benefits received by Selebi was still to be determined by the state and defence on Wednesday, but it was rumoured that the AFU is looking to freeze about R200Â 000 worth of goods from Selebi pending his appeal against the conviction.
The state will argue later on Wednesday why Selebi should be sent to prison for 15 years, while his defence counsel Jaap Cilliers SC is expected to say why Selebi should not face a jail sentence.
Joffe found on July 2 that Selebi received money and gifts from drug-dealer Glenn Agliotti. In exchange Selebi attended meetings at Agliotti’s beck and call and showed Agliotti top secret reports implicating him in crime.
Dramatic trial
The trial was dramatic — Agliotti wept on the stand while talking about the pain he felt at testifying against his “friend” and Selebi was accused of creating “cut-and-paste documents” to show in court.
Joffe built a fraught relationship with state prosecutor Gerrie Nel and defence counsel Jaap Cilliers, sometimes struggling to hide his agitation with Nel’s fumbles and “taking umbrage” with Cilliers’ regular protests.
Cilliers claimed that Selebi was the victim of a “malicious prosecution” and maintained that Selebi never received a single payment from Agliotti.
However, Agliotti’s former fiancée Dianne Muller told the court she witnessed money changing hands between Selebi and Agliotti in a brown paper bag.
This article was produced by amaBhungane, investigators of the M&G Centre for Investigative Journalism, a nonprofit initiative to enhance capacity for investigative journalism in the public interest. www.amabhungane.co.za.