Pay back stolen money: mother
Daughters jetting off overseas again
‘ALL I want is for my daughters to pay me every cent they took from me so that I can continue with my life,” said a distraught Zora Khan outside the Durban Magistrate’s Court yesterday when the fraud case against her daughters was adjourned to next year.
Anisa Sayed, 39, and her sister, Zaahida Khan, 31, were arrested last year after their mother opened a case of fraud against them for allegedly defrauding her of their father’s estate of more than R2 million.
It is alleged that after the death of Zora Khan’s husband, Wasir, the married sisters allegedly advised their mother – the executor and a beneficiary of funds and investments – to hand over to them her internet banking details so they could monitor and guard the money in the bank accounts at Capitec, FNB and Nedbank.
The mother of two daughters and two sons opened a case after discovering that she was penniless, and that her daughters were ignoring her calls and keeping her grandchildren away from her.
The fraud trial began on Tuesday with Khan’s teary testimony about how her daughters had cautioned her that her two sons would steal all her money.
However, it is claimed, they were the ones who were stealing her money.
While the adjournment was granted to allow the daughters’ lawyer to prepare his cross-examination based on the bank statements, the daughters will be jetting off on a pilgrimage from December 27 to January 11.
It is not the first time that they will be going on pilgrimage; they were granted permission to travel the same time last year also.
Their mother said she thought they were using the money they took from her to travel.
After the matter was adjourned in the middle of her cross-examination, Khan said outside court that she would have preferred for the case to continue and for it to be over and done with.
Her intentions were not to see her daughters go to jail; all she wanted was for them to pay what they had taken from her.
“They dishonoured me. All I have are my sons.
“They must pay every cent, and after that I won’t mind if we go our separate ways. It would not matter any more. As long as I have my money, I can live,” she said.
As a mother, it would make her sad to see her daughters suffer, she said.
“My husband left me that money to live a better life and to be able to pay my medical bills. He always said he wanted me to relax and enjoy my life without worrying about money,” she said.
Khan, who sold vegetables at one point in her life and later sold samoosas and pastries to help raise her children, said her husband had prepared for her financially.
“He appreciated the fact that I had worked hard all my life. He wanted me to enjoy life even after his passing. My daughters knew very well that this was my money. I trusted them,” she said.
Khan was upset that her daughters had allegedly used the money to live a lavish lifestyle.
“They went to eat out at three different restaurants a day. Who in their right minds does that?”
The case was adjourned to January 26.