Additional arrests in city brothel blackmail case

THE Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) has made more arrests in the case of a syndicate of brothel keepers who allegedly extorted almost R3 million from clients.

Hawks spokesperson Captain Lloyd Ramovha said the unit made two additional arrests and the suspects were expected to appear alongside the rest of the group in Cape Town Magistrate’s Court.

Deanne Collins, 33, and Robin Reyneke, 27, son of Shantel Bridger, 45, were the latest arrests following intensified investigations by the Hawks. The rest of the group, Juan Francois Warren, 39, Camilla Amelia de Waal Rossouw, 29, Fareez Allie, 35, and Achmat Toffa, 41, were due appear in court to face allegations related to running a brothel in the Milnerton area. The group’s appearance follow their arrest in February after a team comprising the Hawks, Crime Intelligence, metro police and law enforcement raided suspicious addresses around Parklands, Table View and Milnerton.

Subsequent probes by the Anti-Human Trafficking team of the Hawks had since uncovered that Bridger and Warren had allegedly been influential in extorting money from clients who apparently used the services of sexworkers attached to their establishments.

They allegedly pocketed almost R3m between 2012 and 2015 from blackmailing clients, claiming to have recorded their sexual encounters and further threatening to post the said incidents on social media. Additional charges in contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act cannot be ruled out, Ramovha added. – ANA