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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nA police source with knowledge of the investigation suggested the case was being obstructed because of the family\u2019s close connections to senior KwaZulu-Natal officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Redhi was one of ten people, including his wife Neermala Moodley, who were linked to Marimuthu and who were allegedly irregularly appointed as members or agents of crime intelligence in 2011. (See linked story)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TimesLive\/amaBhungane have established that Redhi and Moodley are still listed as employees of crime intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
National Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Thandi Mbambo told us that \u201cit has been confirmed that the investigation as per enquiry number provided, which is prosecution guided, is at an advanced stage and due to sensitivity of the case, we are unable to disclose details of an ongoing investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
KwaZulu-Natal Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Elaine Harrison, who is monitoring progress in the matter, revealed that there had been “complexities” with the investigation, which was still ongoing, and that no suspects had been arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said that after a criminal case docket was registered, the matter was allocated to the provincial National Prosecuting Authority’s Organised Crime Component (OCC), which deals with human trafficking cases. Only once all investigations were complete would a decision be made on whether a prosecution would be instituted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neither Marimuthu nor his implicated family members responded to our calls or written questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A man identifying himself as Jeff who answered one of Marimuthu\u2019s three cellphones (the numbers of which are listed in his statement) said he knew Marimuthu and would get him to return our calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a telephone call, Marimuthu\u2019s lawyer Mohommed Jabeer Moideen confirmed that he represented Marimuthu, \u201cbut only in a few civil cases\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe is a client of mine in certain matters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Told that the affidavit that Marimuthu had signed granting police permission to analyse his cellphones was signed in his [Moideen\u2019s] presence, Moideen asked that questions be emailed to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOf course I cannot give any answers without consulting with the client.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The email address Moideen provided is the same email address used to send questions to him last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We sent questions to police minister Bheki Cele about his relationship with Marimuthu and the lack of progress in the investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cele\u2019s spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba, responded with a Whatsapp message: \u201cAll of the above questions have got nothing to do with Minister Cele both in his personal or work capacity. All operational questions must be directed to SAPS and the persons of interest.\u201d National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe declined to respond to detailed questions about the current status of Marimuthu family members previously linked to crime intelligence, merely stating that \u201cthe SAPS does not discuss information related to intelligence in the media space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Durban North mansion<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The wealthy Marimuthu clan has courted controversy for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marimuthu, a construction and trucking tycoon and evangelical preacher, was implicated in the looting of the crime intelligence slush fund after it was revealed that he and his family had been irregularly employed within the police\u2019s crime intelligence unit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once employed, millions of rands were irregularly paid to the family in salaries, as well as from the questionable rental, sale and purchase of properties as police safe houses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through interviews, affidavits, an analysis of property and company registry data, and internal police documents TimesLive\/amaBhungane have established that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A source with knowledge of the sale confirmed that the house was sold to the L T Family Trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe buyers introduced themselves as Sandy and Tim. Their surname began with an M.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked if the surname was Marimuthu, the source said \u201cyes\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The source added that Marimuthu was \u201cloaded\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Stirling Crescent house was not the only house he had. He wanted to buy the house for his wife because his wife liked the garden, he was going to put his kids in there. I think he had a son and a daughter. \u201cIt was an award-winning garden\u2026 but after the sale it went completely to the dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The March 2022 raid<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A police source said interest in Marimuthu and his children was sparked when detectives learnt that one of the alleged victims had photographed Redhi\u2019s white Audi Q7 shortly before it drove some of them to the property. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After Marimuthu had been identified by a witness as the person introduced to the women as \u201cthe boss\u201d, it is understood that detectives summoned him back to the property, where police questioned him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marimuthu\u2019s affidavit, deposed by Lt-Col Gavin Jacob of the Hawks Durban Serious Organised Crime Office just hours after the raid, shows that he granted the Hawks permission to analyse his cellphones \u201cwith the sole purpose to allegations of human trafficking and\/or the keeping of a brothel \/soliciting for the purposes of prostitution\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201dI have no objection to the police going through my phones and extracting or downloading information that has a bearing on the investigation,\u201d his affidavit which was signed in the presence of his lawyer, Moideen, reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Notes from the investigation diary of one of the investigating officers, Sgt Nomfanelo Mabaso, reveals that Jacobs instructed her to open an inquiry into a case of suspected human trafficking following the rescue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A case of human trafficking and prostitution was registered. Mabaso\u2019s notes also show that during the raid officers seized 208 blank rounds of .38 special ammunition, 294 airgun pellets and four computers. The computers were sent for forensic analysis along with Marimuthu\u2019s cellphones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The \u2018human trafficking\u2019 scam<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Two statements written the day of the raid were crucial for helping detectives understand how the victims were lured to Durban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The statements reveal that the women were promised work with iClick Mobile in Durban, at a call centre where they were supposed to sell sim cards to casino players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the victims claimed that a friend, \u201cJudith\u201d, lured her with the promise of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDuring the lockdown I lost my job late 2021 \u2026 Judith told me she has a friend in Durban, who was hiring girls for a call centre in a casino.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c[In] February 2022 Judith contacted me and informed that her people in Durban confirmed that they still need people for the job\u2026 Judith sent me the acceptance letter with my name on it as proof that I was hired.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, TimesLive\/amaBhungane have established from one of iClick\u2019s owners, Kholani Mkhavele, that although the company was registered in 2012, it was never operational.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI opened it in 2012, but it never did any business. We did not even have bank accounts for the business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking to TimesLive\/amaBhungane, a third victim said: \u201cI was approached by a friend, who said he had work for me in Durban\u2026 He told me I needed to get eight other girls. I told him I can only get four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe showed me documents for iClick Mobile. I was initially suspicious because the offer was out of the blue, but I found the company\u2019s website. It looked genuine. We were given letters of employment. I really thought we were going to be working in a call centre.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The statements \u2013 one of which is signed, one unsigned \u2013 suggest that the women traveled by bus from Johannesburg to the Durban central bus station, where they were met by two men \u2013 one of whom was driving Redhi\u2019s car \u2013 and driven in two vehicles to the Stirling Crescent house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was expecting to meet my friend who recruited us, but we were met by a stranger driving a fancy white SUV. When I asked where my friend was, he said all he knew was that he was to collect us,\u201d the third victim said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Suspicious, she says she photographed the car and its numberplate and sent them to her mother, saying she was worried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the mansion, the women were met by an Indian lady who introduced herself as their new manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe were taken to a room. It was weird, there were computers fitted with cameras. The woman told us they were for us to use. There were also beds but they had no blankets or sheets on them. They were still wrapped in plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The women were allegedly told to \u201cput something sexy on\u201d as the big boss, who owned the house, was coming to meet them. While they were getting undressed, the so-called homeowner walked in on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Indian guy, which is the boss, came in without knocking on the door,\u201d the second unsigned statement reads. \u201cHe did not apologise or cover his face. He said we were to come one by one to the next room so he can interview us. I was the first one to go. It was a room which had a bed. He closed the door and asked if I knew what I am there for. I told him I am there to sell simcards \u2026 He started touching my breast and bums. I pushed him away and he said I must go back to the room and call the next girl and not talk to anyone in a very threatening manner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The third victim corroborated this: \u201cWhen [she] came back we could see something was wrong. She looked terrified. By the time I got there Timmy was furious. He was shouting at me. He demanded to know if I knew why I was there and what I had to do. I told him to work at a call centre and a casino. His cellphone rang and that is when he left.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shown a picture of Marimuthu by TimesLive\/amaBhungane she identified him as \u201cTimmy\u201d: \u201cHis hair was very short at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After this \u201cthe boss\u201d departed, leaving the female manager to explain: \u201cShe said she was going to be straight forward \u2026 we were going to be on webcam \u2026 where you meet overseas guys, that pay us tokens \u2026 to undress and [have] online sex with these guys. She said we might have to meet them in person,\u201d the second victim is alleged to have told police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the first victim, they were promised R40 000 each and told the syndicate\u2019s wealthy clientele would select women from a database of naked photographs. \u201c[We were told that] the only people who will view our pictures are the American people. Boss lady said all of us will be in our own private rooms during which we will take off our clothes and follow all the instructions given by the viewer (client) \u2026 She instructed us that we must do everything that the client requested.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The rescue<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The first victim told the Hawks that they were instructed that for their \u201cown safety\u201d they could not leave the house. They were also warned not to tell anyone where they were, and that if they called anyone, their possessions would be taken away. \u201cWe felt threatened and scared of losing our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, when the manager tried to take their phones, the third victim intervened: \u201cI managed to stop her. I told her one of the girls was not feeling well that she had her period. I took her upstairs. While we were upstairs she sent a message and our location to her friend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The third victim said Marimuthu was called back to the house shortly after the Hawks raided the property: \u201cThe woman boss was told to make up a story to get Timmy back to the house. When he came back that\u2019s when the police caught him.\u201d In an official statement<\/a> released after the raid by the Office of the Provincial Commissioner KwaZulu-Natal, SAPS alleged, \u201cIt was during the meeting with the boss where the story changed and they were informed that they were going to be involved in the sex trade business\u2026 According to the ladies there was a time where the boss had called them in one by one and had touched them inappropriately. The statement did not identify Marimuthu as \u201cthe boss\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A case going nowhere?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The third victim said that after their rescue they were questioned by the Hawks for two weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe were kept in Durban at a shelter. We had to give statements, both written and in front of a camera. Our phones were taken by the police and they downloaded all the photographs that we had taken of the vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe were taken to a prosecutor who deals with human trafficking cases. We gave her the information on what happened to us. She has the information from our cellphones, including the photos we took.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mkhavele, one of the owners of iClick Mobile, told TimesLive\/amaBhungane last year that the Hawks had contacted him around June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOfficers said they needed to see me urgently. I didn\u2019t know if it was criminals pretending to be police. They gave me a case number and police at Sandton checked it out and confirmed that it was a legitimate case but they couldn\u2019t elaborate on it as it was listed as \u2018classified\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was shocked. I met the investigators at Sandton Police Station and gave them all my company and business records showing iClick never operated. They asked me lots of questions about the business, how it operated, who operated it. They asked about the girls who were taken to Durban and promised jobs with iClick. I told them I had no idea what they were talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe police told me about the company\u2019s letterhead on the offers of employment but we never had letterheads, business logos and we never employed anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mkhavela said he had no idea why his business would have been targeted by the syndicate. \u201cI am continuing to cooperate with the police.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nearly two years later, however, the case seems to have gone nowhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A source close to the matter claimed that the investigation into Marimuthu had dragged on unnecessarily: \u201cWe have been asking ourselves why there has not been progress. When you ask around, other members tell you that it’s because Timmy is connected to senior police officials.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the victims though, waiting is torture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese people are still out there. None have been arrested,\u201d the third victim told us. \u201cI still see the guy, who trafficked me and got me to recruit the other women, on the street. I was questioned by the Hawks two months ago. It was the third time they took my statement, yet despite this, and what happened at the house, no one has been arrested or gone to court. \u201cNo one can tell us why nothing has happened to these people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Convicted drug peddler and outed bogus crime intelligence agent, Panganathan \u201cTimmy\u201d Marimuthu, is without a doubt a highly controversial person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Over the decades the self-proclaimed trucking and construction business tycoon slash evangelical preacher, along with his family, have become increasingly notorious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This includes a long running<\/a> and extensive<\/a> battle with the South African Revenue Service, which is currently trying to claw back R400-million in taxes from the Marimuthu clan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The taxman alleges that the family tried to dodge its tax responsibilities by launching bogus business rescue and voluntary liquidation processes for a number of their companies and attempted to hide their assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marimuthu\u2019s first foray into public controversy occurred in 2006 when he was thrust into the limelight by the Jali Commission report into corruption within South Africa\u2019s penal system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That report found that prison officials were suspected to have been bribed to ensure that Marimuthu never served a day behind bars after he was convicted and sentenced to four years imprisonment for possession of mandrax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Marimuthu should have been imprisoned in 1998 after he lost two appeals against his conviction and sentence, the Commission found \u201csinister and extraordinary manoeuvrings had taken place behind the scenes\u201d to ensure that he remained a free man and that \u201cthe suspicion remains \u2026 that money changed hands somewhere\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marimuthu has always denied this, but his notoriety has grown over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2010 he was once again in the spotlight, this time through his own doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At a presentation he gave in the US, where he was sharing the secrets of his business success<\/a> with the followers of the charismatic Christian outfit the Joseph Business School, he revealed that he had serious connections with members of the South African government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Said secrets included how Marimuthu had over the years been able to become incredibly close with \u201ca friend in government\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn a Christian vocabulary we must not use \u2018bribery\u2019 and \u2018corruption\u2019\u2026 your money must make room for you: if you don\u2019t bless somebody to get a job, then the heathen will do that and you\u2019ve lost out,\u201d he told the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following the \u201cfriend\u2019s\u201d advice, Marimuthu\u2019s wealth apparently exploded, with the tycoon claiming, at one point, to own dozens of houses and luxury vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was in late 2010 that Marimuthu first became involved with the SAPS crime intelligence unit, thanks to now disgraced former head Richard Mdluli and former CI chief financial officer Major General Solly Lazarus, who controlled access to the police covert fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2019 Mdluli was jailed for kidnapping and assaulting his former lover’s husband. He was paroled in 2022, but still faces charges of fraud and corruption in relation to looting the covert fund, alongside Lazarus who was sentenced to ten years in prison in 2020 for another case involving covert funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Marimuthu\u2019s colourful history<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n