SA student found with R9 million stuffed in luggage misses court date

Fayrooz Saleh, the 22-year-old South African student who was caught trying to leave the country with more than R9 million in US dollars in her luggage, has failed to turn up for her court appearance.

According to Times Live, a warrant has since been issued for her arrest. Saleh, who was initially arrested on 11 September, failed to appear before the Kempton Park Magistrate's Court on Thursday.

Her lawyer, Ori Moloi, told the court that he had been in contact with her the day before. According to Moloi, Saleh said she was feeling sick. The lawyer refused to divulge any further information.

The state prosecutor requested that a warrant be issued for Saleh's arrest. The court granted the request and postponed the case until 25 October. Following her initial appearance, Saleh was granted bail of R20 000. It is unclear at this stage whether she will forfeit that amount due to her no-show.

It's expected that Saleh will plead guilty to the charges - making her liable to pay a fine that could amount to treble the value of the goods she failed to declare or serve a maximum of two years behind bars.

What we know about the student caught with R9 million Saleh, who is believed to be from Ennerdale in Johannesburg, landed herself in hot water with customs officials and the SA Revenue Service (Sars) when she attempted to fly out of the country back in September.

The student, who has no previous convictions, was stopped at OR Tambo International Airport when she attempted to board a flight bound for Hong Kong. Suspicious SARS officials stopped Saleh from boarding the flight and ushered her into the customs area.

That's when the shocking discovery was made. The officials opened Saleh's luggage and found $630 700 in cash stuffed into the bag. When startled officials questioned Saleh on the millions in her bag, she simply said that she was going to Hong Kong to buy some goods.

Saleh was duly taken into custody and charged. She further incriminated herself by stating that the money did not belong to her, leading investigators to believe that the currency could be the proceeds of crime. The court statement confirmed:

She admitted that she was not the owner of the currency nor could she provide any proof of ownership.

Tags: OR Tambo international airportsars

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