Darren Wilken and Tiona Moodley were back in the dock at the Randburg Magistrate's Court on Monday.
Image: Screenshot
The matter against a couple accused of running a child pornography distribution ring has been postponed to Friday, February 7.
Darren Wilken and Tiona Moodley have been remanded in custody.
On Monday, the Randburg Magistrate's Court heard how the couple lived a lavish life including an overseas trip to Phuket in Thailand and Wilken owning three vehicles including a BMW with the registration plate reading, 'Kids NA-GP' as well as a VW Golf and a Nissan NP200.
The court also heard how they allegedly transferred thousands of rands between their various accounts, with Moodley managing the different websites from which 'buyers' could purchase images and videos of children being sexually assaulted and/or abused.
The State revealed that despite Wilken's unemployment status, between 2023 and 2024, one of his accounts had a credit turnover amounting to millions of rands.
"No fixed income is received into this account. As evident from the credit turnover, his (Wilken's) monthly income fluctuates. For the year 2023 in one of his accounts, the amount was above R2.5million," the State said.
The State added that both Wilken and Moodley face a minimum of 24 counts of money laundering which carries a minimum sentence of 15 years per count.
The State said one of Wilken's accounts received more than R500,000 which is derived from a possibly cryptocurrency transaction.
The court also heard how the couple allegedly used different payment methods to get monies into their accounts which would then be transferred to other accounts.
Moodley further allegedly managed and built websites, and instructed Wilken on how to access the sites.
The State believes it has a 'very strong' case against the pair, emphasizing that bail cannot be granted to the accused.
The State reminded the court that the couple stands accused of crimes linked to the internet and if released, could conceal any further evidence that has not yet been confiscated.
Furthermore, the State said Moodley had already tried to destroy evidence.
The matter was back in court on Monday for the establishment of address on the matter of bail however, the court heard that the pair did not have fixed addresses. Moodley's family also declined for her to live with them if granted bail as they "felt uncomfortable", the court heard.
Moodley, a 25-year-old web designer was arrested in Houghton on Thursday, January 23. Wilken, 35, was arrested in Midrand on January 17 in a takedown operation by a team of investigators attached to the national and Gauteng provincial Serial and Electronic Crime Investigations (SECI) units led by the Component Head for Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS).
Police said during the operation, a number of electronic devices suspected to contain child sexual abuse material were confiscated. A forensic analysis of these devices was conducted on scene by cyber crime experts, an estimated number of 10 million child pornography images and videos were detected thus far.
A large amount of cash, believed to be the proceeds of crime, was also seized.
seanne.rall@iol.co.za
IOL
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