A Sandton man, Ziyadh Hoorzook, who is allegedly linked to terror financing, appeared in the Lichtenburg magistrate’s court on Monday.
He is facing a charge of contravening the Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorist and Related Activities Act. His case was postponed until Friday for a bail application.
“The suspect, a South African, was arrested at his home in Johannesburg on Friday afternoon following a lengthy yet meticulous investigation,” Hawks spokesperson Col Philani Nkwalase said.
According to Nkwalase, the investigation began in May 2018 when the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) and the Hawks received information about suspicious transactions allegedly linked to terror financing.
“Cryptocurrency in the form of bitcoin was allegedly purchased through Luno, a virtual asset service provider, via transfer of money from the suspect’s bank account to Luno’s custody account on November 30 2017.
“On the same day bitcoin was reportedly transferred from the suspect’s Luno wallet to the wallet associated with an organisation which describes itself as an independent charity,” said Nkwalase.
This nonprofit organisation is linked to other two organisations. Investigation revealed the transfer was a response to an advert appealing for financial support of activities with weapons, financial aid and other projects assisting the participants in another country.
After obtaining a search warrant, police searched the suspect’s house on October 3 last year and seized several evidential material for further investigation.
“During the search, it was also found that two of his licensed firearms were not locked away in a safe as prescribed by law and a relevant case docket opened.”
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