Pictured left is Lentegeur drug kingpin Fadwaan “Vet” Murphy and his ex-wife Shafieka, speaking to lawyer Andre Paries.
Lentegeur drug kingpin Fadwaan “Vet” Murphy will be appealing his 18-year imprisonment sentence and R2 million fine.
His ex-wife, Shafieka, will also be appealing her 12-year sentence.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Western Cape Division spokesman Eric Ntabazalila told the Plainsman yesterday, Tuesday January 23, that the couple’s appeal and arguments would be heard in the Western Cape High Court on Monday January 29.
On Friday January 19, Acting Judge Dianne Davis sentenced the duo and had Murphy’s assets, worth R54 million, seized by the Assets Forfeiture Unit (AFU), including three properties and 14 vehicles, which will be, auctioned.
This follows a decade-long fight by the State to get Murphy, 51, off the streets after he was originally slapped with 229 charges relating to the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA), ranging from money laundering to drug dealing.
According to the State, his drug dealing came from his greed for money and power and his actions destroyed communities and people living among them.
Last year the court convicted Murphy on a count of managing an enterprise conducted through a pattern of racketeering activity; a count of conducting or participating in the conduct of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity; a count of receiving or retaining property derived from or through a pattern of racketing activity; 139 counts of attempting to deal in drugs; a count of dealing in drugs; 73 counts of money laundering.
It convicted Shafieka, 57, on a count of managing an enterprise conducted through a pattern of racketeering activity; a count of conducting or participating in the conduct of an enterprise through a pattern racketeering activity; a count of receiving or retaining property derived from or through a pattern of racketing activity; 139 counts of attempting to deal in drugs; a count of dealing in drugs; 25 counts of money laundering.
The State proved that Murphy’s company Ulterior Trading Solutions (CC) was used as a front to conceal his drug dealing and launder ill-gotten proceeds of drug dealing.
Mr Ntabazalila said that the company’s bank accounts were also used to purchase properties in Strand, a five-bedroom house with two swimming pools in Parklands and another one in Worcester.
Senior State Advocate Aradhana Heeramun argued for the maximum penalty on all charges faced by the accused.
She said that they conducted their unlawful activity as if they were conducting a legitimate business with a blatant disregard for the law.
She argued that their sole aim was to enrich themselves financially.
“They profited and enriched themselves, but at what cost? Their greed for power came at an extremely high price, the destruction of communities and the lives of people living among them,” she said.
Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Nicolette Bell applauded the investigating and prosecution team for their tenacity in piecing together the case despite the challenges they faced and their resolve during the marathon trial of five years.