Seven former senior officials of Tongaat Hulett are set to appear in the Durban specialised commercial crimes court on Thursday in a R1.5bn fraud case.
Hawks KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson Capt Simphiwe Mhlongo said the former executives, aged between 45 and 68, will face charges of fraud.
“It is alleged that between March 2015 and September 2018 the seven suspects acted in common purpose and allegedly backdated land sale agreements. That sale agreements were backdated had a significant affect on the financial reports of the company.
“It also resulted in incorrect profits being declared and managers receiving huge bonuses. As a result the company lost approximately R1.5bn.”
He said a case of fraud was reported at the Durban North police station and the docket was allocated to Hawks members from Durban Serious Commercial Crime Investigation.
The seven were charged for fraud on Thursday morning.
Last month the JSE-listed sugar producer said it was claiming R450m against former directors and executives implicated in the group’s accounting scandal, including former CEO Peter Staude.
This followed a damning 2019 PwC forensic investigation which found some senior executives at Tongaat had allegedly been part of inflating the group’s profits.
This is a developing story.
TimesLIVE
Former Tongaat Hulett executives set to appear in court in R1.5bn fraud matter
Image: Supplied
Seven former senior officials of Tongaat Hulett are set to appear in the Durban specialised commercial crimes court on Thursday in a R1.5bn fraud case.
Hawks KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson Capt Simphiwe Mhlongo said the former executives, aged between 45 and 68, will face charges of fraud.
“It is alleged that between March 2015 and September 2018 the seven suspects acted in common purpose and allegedly backdated land sale agreements. That sale agreements were backdated had a significant affect on the financial reports of the company.
“It also resulted in incorrect profits being declared and managers receiving huge bonuses. As a result the company lost approximately R1.5bn.”
He said a case of fraud was reported at the Durban North police station and the docket was allocated to Hawks members from Durban Serious Commercial Crime Investigation.
The seven were charged for fraud on Thursday morning.
Last month the JSE-listed sugar producer said it was claiming R450m against former directors and executives implicated in the group’s accounting scandal, including former CEO Peter Staude.
This followed a damning 2019 PwC forensic investigation which found some senior executives at Tongaat had allegedly been part of inflating the group’s profits.
This is a developing story.
TimesLIVE
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