A top corruption prosecutor has been informed of her imminent suspension in what many believe is a sinister ploy to remove her from a sensitive fraud investigation.

Deputy director of public prosecutions Glynnis Breytenbach was slapped with a warning letter by her bosses requesting that she provide reasons why they should not suspend her.

Breytenbach - who has been responsible for several high-profile fraud convictions - heads the Pretoria office of the NPA's Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit and is privy to sensitive matters currently being heard before the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.

She was in Cape Town for the past few days consulting on a complex fraud case when the letter was delivered to her attorneys in Pretoria. She declined to comment.

The Times became aware of the impending action against Breytenbach on Tuesday and was reliably informed of similar action being planned against another senior official at the NPA's witness protection unit whose name is known to The Times.

The NPA has refused to comment on Breytenbach's imminent suspension, but The Times has learnt that it relates to an alleged "abuse of power in the Kumba Iron Ore case".

She has until Monday to make written submissions on why the NPA should not suspend her.

Breytenbach is highly regarded in NPA circles and has taken on some of the country's bigwigs.

She was responsible for the controversial arms deal probe and also headed the prosecution of alleged Ponzi scheme mastermind Barry Tannenbaum.

She worked on a corruption case involving Mineral Resources officials and business people involved in the Sishen mining rights transaction.

The Hawks last year raided the offices of a politically connected company, Imperial Crown Trading, and those of the Department of Minerals and Energy, in Kimberley.

This was after Kumba Iron Ore, an Anglo American subsidiary, opened a case of corruption against Imperial in connection with a mining-rights dispute affecting the lucrative Sishen iron ore mine.

In a separate but related civil case, the Pretoria High Court found in Kumba's favour in December, ruling that Imperial had no prospecting rights to the mine.

Breytenbach recently decided against prosecuting suspended crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli. Many believe that decision was forced on her.

An NPA official said there have been allegations of abuse of power against prosecutors involved with high-profile cases, but the prosecutors would just be removed from the case.

"If you are loyal to the principles of prosecutions, you are bound to lose favour with those who have ulterior motives," said the official.

Citing the allegations of abuse of power levelled against Gerrie Nel when he prosecuted convicted druglord Glenn Agliotti, the official said such tactics were employed when "they want the court case to fail".

NPA spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga dismissed NPA officials' claims that Breytenbach was being persecuted for "not shutting up".

"We won't be drawn into commenting on insinuations.

"The suspension of advocate Glynnis Breytenbach is an internal matter, hence we are not at liberty to discuss it in the media,'' Mhaga said.

"All cases she was handling will be reassigned to other equally capable prosecutors within the NPA," he said.

Three NPA officials yesterday questioned the timing of Breytenbach's imminent suspension. They said it could be as a result of her reluctance to take political orders.

"This is very bizarre and we all know that, if you make too much noise in the NPA, or you are too close to the truth, you become a target," said a senior official.

One of the prosecutions Breytenbach is currently heading is a fraud case involving over R1-million in which her boss, Specialised Commercial Crimes head Lawrence Mrwebi, is due to testify.

Breytenbach and two other senior advocates are prosecutors in the case dating back to when Mrwebi - whom President Jacob Zuma appointed in November - was still head of the Scorpions in KwaZulu-Natal.

The matter was postponed on Monday to February 7 for a trial date.

Mrwebi has been subpoenaed to be a state witness against his former colleague, Malala Geophrey Ledwaba.

The case dates back to 2005 but had to be abandoned halfway though when the presiding magistrate was forced to recuse himself.

Ledwaba faces several charges of fraud committed between December 2003 and January 2005.

Some of the charges relate to Ledwaba allegedly siphoning off over R500000 from the Scorpions' "confidential fund" - a slush fund from which clandestine operations are run and informants paid.

In one transaction, Mrwebi authorised a R150000 payment from the fund in March 2004, allegedly acting on a request by Ledwaba. Mrwebi is to testify that he signed a memo authorising the payment but that he was under the impression that it was legitimate.

The Times has reliably learned that Mrwebi, before his appointment to the NPA, was on several occasions offered Section 204 status, which would safeguard him from prosecution.

Mrwebi is said to have declined the Section 204 offers, maintaining that he did not do anything wrong.

Mhaga has, however, denied that Mrwebi was offered a Section 204, instead saying that "there is no possibility of him being charged at any stage".