‘Gang boss’ Ah Shene off the hook – for now

Fraud charges against suspected gang boss Shaun Ah Shene were withdrawn yesterday, but he was warned not to celebrate just yet as the National Prosecuting Authority promised to place the matter back on the court roll by the end of the month. Ah Shene, 50, the alleged founder of Port Elizabeth’s oldest northern areas gang, the Ah Shene’s – also known as the Chinas, was arrested by the Hawks during a pre-dawn raid on his Adcockvale family home in October 2015. It is alleged he defrauded the taxman – through his company Coral Blue Trading CC – out of R2.1-million by under-declaring his income between July 2003 and March 2009. Yesterday, Ah Shene appeared briefly in the Port Elizabeth High Court, where state advocate Martin le Roux said the director of public prosecutions had opted to withdraw the charges – almost two years after his highly publicised arrest. Ah Shene’s legal team said afterwards they would now fight to have his assets returned. Ah Shene’s 21 investment accounts, 13 fixed properties in North End, Kensington, Sydenham, Bethelsdorp and Korsten, as well as an undisclosed amount of cash held in the trust account of Dullabh & Co Attorneys in Grahamstown, were placed in the hands of a curator last year, pending the outcome of the criminal case. Advocate Brent Harker said if the criminal matter was withdrawn, he saw no reason why Ah Shene’s assets should not be released back to him. Harker said they would also look at possible civil proceedings to recover some of Ah Shene’s losses incurred as a result of the case.

But the deputy director of public prosecutions in Grahamstown, Advocate Selvan Gounden, said the criminal matter would proceed at a later stage and yesterday’s decision should have no effect on the civil proceedings. “They are two different matters entirely and will be handled as that,” he said. Gounden said specialist senior state advocate Elna Smit, of East London, had agreed to travel to Port Elizabeth to prosecute the case, but she had not been available immediately due to prior commitments. Asked if there was a shortage of prosecutors with the necessary skills set, he said: “There is not a shortage of prosecutors, we just want the best to deal with the matter. “Advocate Smit has more than 20 years’ experience in the field and we believe she is the best person to successfully prosecute this case.” Gounden described Ah Shene’s matter as extremely complex and one that needed to be handled by an expert in the field. “Unfortunately, two of our advocates pinpointed in PE to do the case [advocates Theuns de Jager and Le Roux] are unavailable,” he said. Gounden said a fresh summons for Ah Shene to appear in court would be issued and that the case was likely to be re-enrolled before the end of the month. It is understood the case will now proceed in the Port Elizabeth Regional Court, and not the high court as had previously been decided, due to its court roll being more flexible.