Bail granted amid investigation

“HE MUST be arrested and charged,” came a whisper from the dock in the Durban Commercial Crimes Court yesterday. It was former Pietermaritzburg policeman Mohammed Ebrahim, accused of defrauding the Road Accident Fund of more than R6 million, communicating with his lawyer, Shane Matthews.

The message was about someone who sent a mystery SMS to Ebrahim’s family, wanting to extort money from them. The matter had been a concern in his bail application. Yesterday magistrate Judy Naidoo granted Ebrahim R30 000 bail, which he paid immediately. Both the State and the defence noted that Ebrahim had been in custody when the message was sent.

Ebrahim has been driving an unmodified car, carries a normal driver’s licence and was known to visit the local Golden Horse Casino where the prosecution believes he would have used normal toilets. This despite being paid over a million rand from the Road Accident Fund (RAF).

The prosecution has told the court that the RAF had been paying for a man who could walk. The court had, however, also heard that he had been shot months before.

Ebrahim appeared in court on crutches, which he used to hobble out of the court and down the lifts into the relative freedom that his bail allows.

His lawyer had told the court he suffered from various discomforts including hypertension, unstable angina, cardiac conditions and epilepsy as a result of the accident. The case was postponed to October 20.

With him in the dock were his wife, Asha, 51; his son, Junaid, 32; and daughter-in-law Nerosha Nohar, 33; all from the same Feldspar Street address, also charged with fraud, related to caring for him. They are each out on bail of R5 000, which was extended.