Suspected of gang links, Modack appeared with Colin Booysen, brother of suspected gang leader Jerome “Donkie” Booysen and suspected gang kingpins Jacques Cronje, Ashley Fields and Carl Lakay.
Arrested in December, they five face charges of extortion and intimidation linked to the nightclub security business.
Renowned gang-buster and now head of the Cape Town Central police cluster Major-General Jeremy Vearey and the Western Cape’s head of crime intelligence Major-General Peter Jacobs were in court.
Investigating officer Charl Kinnear said that on April 21 last year police were alerted to a hostile situation outside the Mavericks adult entertainment club in central Cape Town.
“Police searched vehicles belonging to the first accused (Modack) and others, resulting in various weapons and 200 rounds of ammunition being seized.
"The next day an official from the Western Cape SAPS legal services called me, stating the weapons must be released to the owners following our ballistic unit’s tests,” he said.
The official said an application was submitted to the Western Cape High Court for the release of the weapons, which they would not oppose as the cost to police would be over R20 000, said Kinnear.
He said two weeks later the same weapons were seized in another arrest involving Eagle Security Services, an unregistered security agency.
Kinnear said in his testimony that he suspected that the police's legal services official had been influenced.
State prosecutor Adiel Jansen asked why he would come to this conclusion.
Kinnear said: “In May last year, Major-General Vearey called a meeting with myself and other officers. He produced a recording of a meeting with Modack and a Russel Christopher, where Modack can be heard saying he has connections to high-ranking police officials. One official had instructed him to take statements from people at the club.”
The hostile action at Mavericks was an attempt to forcibly take over security there and at other clubs. In the recording Modack stated that Cronje was the “muscle” and Booysen was not a businessman but a gangster, said Kinnear.
The matter was postponed for Kinnear to conclude his testimony, so the defence could submit their arguments for bail to be set.