UNDER SCRUTINY: Julian Brown is allegedly the head of a multimillion-rand poaching enterprise. Picture: Supplied
Expensive cars, fancy watches – suspected perly poacher has it all
He is a high school dropout who claims to have made a living fixing second-hand cars and trading in scrap metal, but paying R500 000 bail “is like a trip to Checkers” for Julian Brown, the alleged head of a multimillion-rand perlemoen enterprise.
A fleet of flashy vehicles worth nearly R1-million and 63 expensive watches were listed among assets belonging to Brown, 30, as his excessive wealth came under scrutiny in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
Brown, of South End, was asking for bail after he was arrested last month on charges of racketeering, among others.
The prosecution said his alleged operation was far more lucrative than the syndicate allegedly headed by businessman Morne Blignault, 44, who was released on R250 000 bail last week.
Brown is accused with Eugene “Boesman” Victor, 31, of North End, and Edgar Clulow, 24, who was released on bail last week.
Magistrate Estie Petzer will rule today on Brown and Victor’s bids for bail.
In an affidavit opposing Brown’s release, investigating officer Captain Kanna Swanepoel revealed:
- An ongoing investigation into money laundering;
- Claims of witness intimidation; and
- How Brown allegedly stopped his vehicle in the middle of a police chase in a dramatic attempt to prevent an arrest.In his affidavit read by state advocate Martin le Roux, Swanepoel claimed Brown owned vehicles with a combined value of R920 000 which were not even registered in his name.“I am in possession of a statement in which a witness says [Brown] paid him R500 000 to buy a Ferrari on his name so the vehicle could not be traced back to him,” Swanepoel said. Brown, meanwhile, said he owned:
- A Golf GTI valued at R280 000;
- A Ford Ranger bakkie valued at R160 000;
- A Kawasaki H2 motorcycle worth R300 000;
- and A Ford Ranger bakkie (Club Cab) worth R180 000.
Gouws said Brown had sold his Audi Quattro, worth R215 000, to Blignault after owning it for about three months.
Reading from Brown’s affidavit, Gouws said: “I paid a deposit of R200 000 to a friend [Martin Kriel] for a BMW M4 (2015), which I had in my possession for approximately three weeks.
“I returned the BMW in exchange for another vehicle.” Brown said he had paid his friend a further R800 000 over the next two months in exchange for a Ferrari.
He drove the Ferrari for about a month before he swapped it for a Kawasaki H2 motorbike.
He said Kriel now owed him the balance of the money.
In addition, he owned eight expensive watches worth R200 000, and not 63 as alleged by the state.
“I said I was the owner of 60 expensive watches on my arrest, but this was said in a sarcastic manner,” he claimed.
Brown, born and bred in Port Elizabeth, completed Grade 10 at Framesby High School.
He said he lived with his fiancee, Tania Weitz, in South End, where they paid rent of R12 000 a month.
Disputing claims that he frequently moved around Port Elizabeth, Brown said there were reasons behind each move, one of which was that he was a cat lover and there was a problem with cats in his complex. He said he had made his money from scrap metal and the sale of second-hand cars before registering his construction business, J&B Construction, in September last year.
Le Roux countered that J&B Construction was likely to have been launched in an attempt to explain where his wealth was coming from.
“This company is the likely vehicle through which [Brown] launders the proceeds of crime. This is under investigation,” he said.
Brown is also the subject of an SA Revenue Service investigation.
He is appealing against a Port Elizabeth High Court ruling in which he was ordered in May to comply with a lifestyle audit.
He has a 2007 conviction for the unlawful possession of a firearm and one for possession of perlemoen in 2004.
Le Roux said if released on bail, it was likely he would intimidate witnesses.
Brown had allegedly phoned members of the Tactical Task Force and tried to influence them to stop apprehending the illegal
divers along the Marine Drive coastline.
In another incident in March last year, he allegedly interfered in a police chase by stopping his vehicle between the police and one of his suspected employees, who was allegedly trying to flee with a bag of perlemoen.
While Brown offered to pay bail of R100 000, Le Roux said if the court opted to release him, bail should be set at R500 000.
“This will be like a trip to Checkers for him,” he said.
“House arrest is not a viable option because he can still operate his [poaching] business from his cellphone,” he said.
Victor and Brown said they would plead not guilty to the charges.
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