Fraud and corruption charges against suspended Crime Intelligence boss Richard Mdluli were provisionally withdrawn in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Pretoria on Wednesday.
"These charges... should have never been there in the first place. There is someone fighting with me somewhere. I don't know who," Mdluli said after his brief appearance.
No reason for the withdrawal of the charges was stated in court. The charges related to the purchase of two vehicles for his unit.
In September, Mdluli handed himself to authorities after fresh charges of fraud and corruption were brought against him.
According to the charge sheet, Mdluli "illegally, dishonestly and without authority carried out some police work, misused or sold information or material acquired during the course of his duties, abused his position of authority, breached the trust of police and tried to conspire with others to commit offences".
Mdluli was alleged to have used money from the unit's witness protection fund to pay salaries and buy houses and cars for girlfriends and their relatives, as well as his own relatives, who had been registered as covert intelligence officers.
In one case, investigators found that a Cape Town woman was registered as an intelligence operative and paid at least R18 000 a month. The woman's cousin and brother were also allegedly employed by crime intelligence and paid R8 000 a month.
The charges against Mdluli's co-accused Hannes Barnard were also withdrawn.
Barnard declined to speak to the media afterwards.
In another case, Mdluli and three others are standing trial for their involvement in a decade-old love triangle murder.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 