MBABANE – Sixteen Brazilian nationals have approached the High Court seeking the release of their personal belongings, which were preserved under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA) of 2018.
The applicants were among a group of foreign nationals arrested in March 2026 for alleged illegal online gambling at the Castle Hotel in Mbabane. They were subsequently convicted of being in Eswatini illegally, sentenced to six months imprisonment with an option of an E500 fine, and have since been deported.
Filed against the director of public prosecutions (DPP), the urgent application seeks an order excluding the Brazilians’ interests from a preservation order granted to the Crown on June 5, 2026. The applicants, including Do Nascimento Santo Francisco Romulo, who deposed the founding affidavit, and 15 others,discovered their personal effects had been included in assets frozen during proceedings involving Tao Joseph Lyu and Longet Zhang.
The applicants argue they were never cited as parties, suspects, or respondents in those preservation proceedings. Their attorney, Noncedo Ndlangamandla, certified the matter as urgent, noting that the ongoing preservation causes severe prejudice as the items include essential communication, banking and identity tools.
According to the court papers, police confiscated a wide array of personal belongings during the March 11, 2026 arrests. The broader preservation order covers extensive assets, including:
Various foreign currencies (US Dollars, South African Rand, Chinese Yuan, Malaysian Ringgit and Thai Baht), two Rolex wristwatches, a black safe and luxury vehicles, including a Land Rover Range Rover Sport, a Volkswagen Amarok and a Toyota Fortuner.
The applicants maintain that the specific items they are claiming are their exclusive personal property, lawfully acquired with personal funds before travelling. They assert that these items do not belong to Tao, Zhang, or anyone else implicated in the state’s case.
Furthermore, the applicants revealed they were victims of a recruitment scheme, having travelled to Eswatini under the false impression that employment opportunities awaited them in South Africa. The application is brought under Section 43(3) of POCA, which allows individuals with legitimate interests to apply for an exclusion from a preservation order.
The Brazilians emphasise that they were only charged with and penalised for immigration offences. They argue there is absolutely no evidence connecting their personal belongings to money laundering, organised crime, fraud, human trafficking, or any other unlawful activity. “There is no evidence that our personal belongings constitute proceeds of unlawful activities or that the items were instrumentalities of any offence,” the filed papers state. The applicants maintain that retaining their passports, wallets, phones, and cash serves no legitimate purpose. The Crown is opposing the application but has yet to file its answering papers. The matter remains pending in court, and the veracity of the allegations is still to be tested.
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