An Italian prosecutor on Monday sought to probe the link between alleged Mafioso Vito Palazzolo and Count Riccardo Agusta, who achieved notoriety in the Roodefontein saga.
The prosecutor, Gaetano Paci, was cross-examining former police officer Gert Nel in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court, which is hearing evidence for Palazzolo's trial in absentia in Italy.
Nel told the court he was one of the police officers who arrested Palazzolo in the Eastern Cape in 1988, which resulted in Palazzolo returning to Switzerland to complete a jail term for playing banker in a massive drug deal.
Last year, a civil engineer told the George Regional Court, hearing corruption charges against former Western Cape politicians Peter Marais and David Malatsi, that Palazzolo played a key role in Agusta's controversial Roodefontein golf-estate development.
The engineer, Ray Durden, testified that Palazzolo asked him to bring together a professional team to drive the project, and gave him instructions on an earlier, abandoned plan for a retirement complex on the farm.
Palazzolo had said he was acting as an adviser for Agusta.
Agusta last year paid a R1-million fine for his part in the Roodefontein corruption saga.
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