A Durban attorney is still out of pocket to the tune of R2 million after a relative of his allegedly sold his Ferrari Spider without his permission.
|||Keith Mothilall, a Durban attorney, is still out of pocket to the tune of R2 million after a relative of his allegedly sold his Ferrari Spider without his permission.
The saga played itself out in court last week, leaving the complainant determined to pursue his case and the accused saying he had been vindicated.
The accused, a former Durban car dealer, who was extradited from Canada for the case, appeared in court this week to face criminal charges relating to the unlawful sale in 2010 of Mothilall’s supercar worth R2.5m.
But charges of theft and fraud levelled against Rodney Hyman of Hyman Cars were withdrawn when he appeared before Commercial Crimes Court magistrate Brian Govender on Friday.
With that ruling, attorney Keith Mothilall, who is the complainant and a distant relative of Hyman, must now rely on a civil court action to recover the money allegedly owed to him from the sale of his red Ferrari Spider.
Mothilall accused Hyman, the son of well-known car dealer Freddy, of forging his signature to facilitate the sale of the high-powered vehicle without his consent.
The attorney was not in court when Govender made his pronouncement, but would have been informed earlier of the decision to drop charges against Hyman taken by prosecutor Clinton Pillay.
National Prosecuting Authority spokeswoman, Natasha Ramkisson confirmed that charges against Hyman had been dropped: “The charges were withdrawn due to the subsequent issues that have arisen.
“These require further investigation and consideration before the matter can proceed to trial.”
Mothilall said the turn of events in court was not expected.
“I was surprised by the decision to withdraw charges, especially since the previous prosecutor (Joanne Bromley-Gans) was ready to go to trial,” said Mothilall.
“My disappointment was brief. I’m not bitter. Being a legal person, I understand how the justice system works.
“It’s not over. He (Hyman) knows what he has done. It will lie with his conscience,” the attorney said.
Hyman had assembled an impressive legal team that included attorney Shireen Soobrathi, advocate Gideon Scheltema and researcher Leon Pillay, as well as handwriting expert Mike Irving.
Regarding the outcome, Soobrathi said: “The complainant was using the court to do his debt collecting. It was a no-brainer from the outset.
“Our handwriting expert confirmed that my client had not forged the complainant’s signature.”
Mothilall countered by saying: “He’s (Irving) not an objective witness - he's being paid by the defence team.
“I have nothing against his (Hyman’s) legal team. As an attorney, I understand they had a job to do.
“Well done to them for securing this outcome. But there are different levels in battle. They’ve won this round, but I won’t let this go.”
Mothilall said he felt sorry for Hyman appearing before Govender on Wednesday.
“We have known each other all our lives. I felt sorry seeing him standing in the witness box on Wednesday.
“Though I’m looking for justice, I don’t intend for harm to come to him (Hyman).”
Mothilall claims the fallout between them occurred when he approached Hyman to broker a deal and sell the Ferrari.
Without Mothilall’s knowledge, Hyman allegedly re-registered the car by forging the lawyer’s signature, and then sold it to a businessman. - Sunday Tribune