State holds ‘hitmen’s cash’

AFU will now apply for money allegedly paid for Jayde’s killers to be forfeited permanently

THE money Christopher Panayiotou allegedly paid to procure the services of hitmen to kidnap and kill his wife two years ago will remain in possession of the state, a court has ruled. With the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) given the upper hand this week, the next step is for it to apply for the cash – a total of R35 850 – to be permanently forfeited.

The preservation order extends to the money confiscated by the police following the arrest of self-confessed “middleman” Luthando Siyoni, 36, in April 2015, as well as the money Panayiotou, 30, allegedly paid him to “disappear” following Jayde Panayiotou’s shooting.

“In terms of Section 38 of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, an order is hereby granted prohibiting any person from dealing in any manner with the R35 850 in cash [being kept at] Kabega Park,” the order, granted on Tuesday, reads.

While the criminal matter is still ongoing in the Port Elizabeth High Court, a conviction is not required for a forfeiture order in terms of the act.

When police arrested Siyoni, who later turned state witness, they confiscated R31 300 in cash. At the time, Siyoni alleged this was his cut in the R80 000 Panayiotou allegedly paid him to organise the hitmen.

He claimed the remaining cash was paid over to the now deceased suspected triggerman, Sizwezakhe Vumazonke.

Siyoni has since recanted on his confession and claims police beat him up and forced him to implicate his former boss.

The state claims further that Panayiotou then paid Siyoni a further R4 550 during a sting operation which is currently the subject of a trial-within-a-trial in the criminal court.

AFU investigating officer Warrant Officer Clinton Brown said the exchange of cash was confirmed by video and audio surveillance.

Brown submitted in an affidavit accompanying the application that Siyoni was a lowly paid employee of Panayiotou’s – a bouncer at his Algoa Park Infinity Cocktail Bar – and the only conceivable reason for his former boss to give him this amount of money was clearly to effect the hit on his 29-year-old wife.

In a separate statement, Captain Kanna Swanepoel said that while Siyoni had since deviated from what he had told police on his arrest, he still stood by the fact that he had received R80 000 from Panayiotou.

The trial resumes on June 12, when Judge Dayalin Chetty is expected to deliver his verdict on the admissibility of the sting recording.