Exposing ‘Russel’ as Radovan and transcribing an Agliotti meeting

AGENT 4

I JOINED the South African Revenue Service and more specifically the Special Projects Unit (SPU) on March 15 2007.

From the outset the SPU members operated from their respective houses.

As the members could not function in a conventional way, it was decided to issue the members with SARS appointment cards in false names.

If my memory serves me correctly, these cards were only valid for one month and were to be utilised for a specific project. Although the cards were produced they were not issued due to the legalities of issuing the cards to members.

The cards were withdrawn and destroyed. I have no knowledge of any member ever using such a card.

Because of security concerns files were encrypted.

Then, in December 2013, a break-in occurred at an agent’s house. The circumstances of the break-in were suspicious and until today it remains unsolved. The financial loss to the member was in the region of R200 000. Although the member was insured, the data lost as a result of the burglary was a blow to the unit. Projects include:

April 2007: Team tasked to monitor 400kg of abalone from Cape Town;

July 2007: Team was tasked to trace 290kg of Anthranilic acid that was imported into the country. The acid was traced and located when it was moved from a warehouse in Germiston to the West Rand. Through investigations another premises was raided where 17 000 Mandrax tablets worth approximately R500 000 and presses for a Mandrax manufacturing machine were confiscated;

February 2011: The team was tasked in identifying the true identity of one Russel Knight. Knight was identified as a pseudonym for Radovan Krejcir. This led to a full investigation in identifying Krejcir’s associates and companies. After a few months a comprehensive diagram with entities linked to Krejcir was forwarded. Routine monitoring led to the identifying of more people connected to Krejcir. Another individual, who was identified as being “approachable”, was a former employee of Krejcir. Through this identification, SARS was able to obtain a written statement, which resulted in SARS obtaining a judgement against Krejcir. This operation is temporarily halted as Krejcir is on trial for various criminal charges;

May 2011: As a result of the investigation into Krejcir, several businesses were identified. One such address was in Sandton. SARS investigators visited the premises for routine investigations. The team provided backup to the team to prevent any intimidation or threat. The SARS team did not know about the team’s presence. Were any threat detected, the team would have been warned through [the unit head’s] intervention; and

June 2014: Transcribing of a meeting between role-players in the cigarette industry. People involved were Glenn Agliotti, Yusuf Kajee and Paul de Robillard.