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By Zelda Venter 
1 hour ago
Pretoria – Fugitives Shepherd and Mary Bushiri, who have already lost their combined R400,000 bail money and face the possibility of losing their R5.5 million property in the Midstream Estate, may also lose their luxury jet.
The aircraft was preserved last year when the National Tax Authority (NPA) claimed that it was purchased with the proceeds of crime.
As Bushiri fought tooth and nail to get his plane back, the NPA at the time said it had enough facts to believe the plane was the product of illegal activities or the instrument of crime.
The request to miss the plane was filed with the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, last year by the NPA. The issue was removed from the registry at that time, as it was not ready to proceed.
Bushiri, in a lengthy affidavit, explained to the court a year ago in detail that the plane was ultimately bought with legitimate profits.
He is blaming a conspiracy and vendetta of some people against him because of his popularity.
Bushiri also said he was blackmailed into paying so that “his problems” would disappear, but he refused to indulge in this.
The charges resulted in the conservation order early last year, which was granted under the Organized Crime Prevention Act.
The 1984 Gulfstream aircraft was part of the charges of fraud, money laundering, and other related charges totaling more than 15 million rand for which Bushiri and his wife were initially arrested.
While the NPA claimed that Bushiri violated exchange control regulations related to the value of 16 million rand in foreign currency when he bought the plane, the prophet denied this.
According to Bushiri, he was tired of all the travel between his congregations here and outside the country’s borders and decided to buy a plane to make the trip easier.
Bushiri also explained that he received many donations from third parties and that several people also insisted on giving him gifts for their services.
This was in addition to other payments he received, including private prayer sessions for people in need. As he was a foreign citizen and only visited South Africa at the time, he was unable to open a bank account.
According to his earlier affidavit, he also received a lot of money from the “international visitor program”.
Pretoria News
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