Public conned by bootleg booze
2003-10-21 20:34
Cape Town - For five months, liquor outlets throughout the country sold to the public poisonous industrial cleaning alcohol disguised as cheap brandy, cane spirits, vodka and other liquor products.
This was alleged in the Bellville Regional Court on Tuesday at the resumed trial of Johan van der Heever and Dan Padowitz on eight charges involving fraud and contraventions of the Liquor Products Act as well as the Customs and Excise Act.
The alleged offences happened between August and December 1998 when Van der Heever was part owner of the Bellville and Bothasig branches of Jumbo Liquors, and Padowitz a director of Bebida Distillers.
Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges before magistrate Andre le Grange.
Police investigator Vaughan Holmes of the Durban commercial crime unit told the court he received information on November 30 1998 that large quantities of a substance purporting to be brandy, but did not smell of brandy, were being retailed to the public in the Cape Town area.
He said a company called Servochem in Montagu Gardens near Cape Town retailed industrial chemicals for medical and dry cleaning purposes, and was an industrial chemical distribution centre for Illovo Sugar in Durban.
Another company, Medichem of Atlantis Industria near Cape Town, bought chemicals from Servochem in regular small quantities and supplied processed chemicals to the medical profession.
Holmes said Medichem supplied a product called B619 blend to Servochem, and from October 1998 orders for blend 619 increased considerably.
He said blend 619 was 98% ethanol and 2% methanol.
Between October and November 1998, 117 drums containing 210 litres each of blend 619 were ordered.
Holmes said the large orders were highly irregular and caused a shortage of blend 619.
The drums were transported by vehicles used by Van der Heever, he said.
Later, 12 drums of a different chemical, blend 214 (colourless methylated spirits) were ordered. The consignments were delivered to Bebida Distillers, he said.
On November 29 of that year, six vehicles loaded with cartons of liquor went from Bebida to Magersfontein Trading cc in Goodwood.
A load of cartoned liquor was also taken from Bebida to Peninsula Liquor Distributors and Van Nyathi Distributors, both in Stikland.
Holmes said the chief plant and quality technician at the department of agriculture Chris van Zyl had meanwhile taken random samples from various liquor stores in the Western Cape.
The samples included Magersfontein Gold Brandy and Oakwood Brandy and were sent for analysis to establish the methanol content.
Holmes said Magersfontein Gold contained 113269mg of Methanol per one litre of pure alcohol - exceeding the limit by 119269mg.
According to Van Zyl this was lethal if consumed.
- SAPA