It was all eyes (and ears) on Mendhi Street in Laudium Extension 2/3 area last Wednesday, when police from the specialised unit pounced on one of the homes there.
At around 10:30am, a large contingent of police officers, raided the home of Pakistani national Amir Ali, a resident of Mendhi Street. Amir was at the premises with his wife, Chantelle Sutil, when police arrived.
The police were believed to be acting on information received from a company called Astrum, after Ali contacted Astrum to sell to them computers and other electronic items. Apparently Astrum subsequently arranged to meet them under the pretence of purchasing the items, as they became suspicious that the goods being offered by Amir could have been the same goods stolen from their premises and thus alerted the police. Astrum reps then accompanied police officers to Ali’s residence, where the home was searched in the presence of Ali and his wife. During the raid, police allegedly found a number of computers and other electronic items at the property, which Astrum is believed to have identified as being those which were stolen from their premises.
by ‘Astrum’ reps, who suspected that goods stolen from ‘Astrum’ could be at the property.
Pakistani national Amir Ali told the Laudium Sun, “I, together with my wife, Chantelle Sutil, purchased electronic items, mainly computer equipment and related parts, through an online auction called IBID On Storage on July 31. The total value of the items we purchased was approximately R80,000. We have previously bought and sold electronic items and have never had any problems with this type of business. We believed that we were purchasing the goods through a legitimate online auction and had no reason to believe that the items were stolen. After purchasing the items, I tried to sell some of them. That was when certain people apparently claimed that the items had been stolen. On Wednesday, we contacted Astrum to sell to them some of the goods, as we had a large quantity of computer parts and boxes that originally came from them, which we had purchased through the auction. Astrum told us that they were interested in buying the computer equipment and that they would come to our premises the same morning to inspect and purchase the items. We did not know that Astrum had concerns about the goods or that they suspected that the items could have been stolen. We were under the impression that they were simply interested in purchasing the stock from us. When they arrived, however, they came together with police
officers and members of a tactical security company. Suddenly, there were many people at my home and the situation became very serious. The police officers arrived heavily equipped and from my perspective, it created a very intimidating situation at my house. They searched my premises and confiscated all the stock. I was extremely
upset because I maintain that I legitimately purchased these items through an online auction. I have evidence of the purchase and documentation showing where the items came from and I provided this evidence to the officers present. I was not arrested or charged, but I have seen reports about people being arrested at my house in connection with this matter. Nevertheless, the entire incident was a very upsetting experience for me and my wife. I am particularly unhappy about what happened afterwards. I am very upset with Vision Tactical Security because they were present at my property with the police and took photographs during the operation. Those photographs were then shared on social media and with certain of their contacts. I strongly object to the way those photographs
were circulated. I want to know how a private security company can take and distribute photographs while the police are conducting an operation and dealing with evidence. The police were present and there were electronic items being dealt with as part of the investigation. I believe these matters should be handled properly and according to the law. If the authorities believe that we purchased stolen goods, then they must investigate the matter and take the appropriate legal action. I have nothing to hide and I willingly provided the documents and evidence relating to the auction purchase. What concerns me is the way the security company Vision Tactical appeared to take control of the situation, making comments and questioning us as if they were in charge while the police were present. I believe there must be law and order and everyone must respect the proper procedures. This entire incident has been extremely distressing for me and my wife, and I hope the matter will be properly investigated so that the truth about where the goods came from can be established.”
Chantelle Sutil, the wife of Amir, told the Laudium Sun, “We are innocent because we had no idea that the goods were stolen. We purchased the electronic equipment through what we believed was a legitimate online auctioneer, ‘IBID ON STORAGE’ and we have receipts and documentation confirming the transaction. The goods we purchased were worth approximately R80,000, and we have evidence showing how the purchase was made. The way the police operation and the private security company handled this matter has been very distressing for us
because we are not criminals. We buy and sell electronic items as a part-time source of income and we have been doing this believing that we were operating within the law. At no stage did we know or suspect that any of the equipment could have been stolen. Otherwise why would we even offer the goods we bought to Astrum. We only became aware of the allegations after the authorities arrived at our home. Before that, we believed everything was completely legitimate because we had gone through an online auction process to purchase the equipment. When you buy something through an auction platform, you naturally expect the goods being offered for sale to have been obtained legally and to be suitable for resale. We have since heard allegations that the items may be connected to stolen goods from Midrand with a reported value of around R15 million. We have no knowledge of those allegations and we were shocked to hear about them. We cannot explain where such claims came from because our involvement was limited to purchasing a small quantity of the goods through the auction and then trying to resell it. For people like us who buy and sell goods, it can be very difficult to know the complete history of every item. We are not investigators and we do not have the ability to determine whether something was stolen before it was placed on auction. We followed the process provided by the online auction and paid for the stock through what
we believed was a legitimate transaction. If there was a problem with the goods before they reached the auction, we had no way of knowing that. This entire situation has been extremely stressful for me and my husband. We are ordinary people trying to earn an income and we never intended to become involved in anything criminal. We want this matter to be investigated properly and fairly. We simply wanted this opportunity to explain our side and clear our names.”
Fazluddeen Hoosen of Mendhi Street, told the Laudium Sun, “I heard about the major police operation that took place on our street and I find the situation very disturbing. There must be a proper investigation before anyone is accused of being guilty. The authorities should establish where the goods came from, who owned them and whether those involved knew of their origin. If the investigation confirms that any individuals knowingly dealt in stolen property, the police must take appropriate legal action. Residents also need reassurance that crime will not be tolerated in our neighbourhood.”
The Laudium Sun tried to contact MoJo from Vision Tactical for a comment, but without success.
This is not the first time that Vision Tactical stands accused of disseminating photos from crime scenes.