As the Zondo commission of inquiry has released four tranches of its report, the investigating directorate (ID) has said that allegations that it is not acting on matters brought before the commission are “not true”.
The ID, the arm of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) established to deal with state capture cases, has been criticised for not taking swift action in matters arising from the commission.
On Tuesday, national director of public prosecutions Shamila Batohi made a budget presentation to parliament and asked for another R2.1bn over the next three years to fix the organisation’s problems and capacitate it properly. Batohi also promised that nine “seminal corruption cases” involving state capture will be enrolled in the next three to six months.
The ID has enjoyed recent successes in preserving the assets of the Guptas and their Regiments Capital and Trillian lieutenants, a first step in forfeiting them to the state. The unprecedented restraint orders include the largest asset ever preserved in the country, the entire Optimum coal mine.
However, as things stand on the criminal front, the Gupta brothers remain at large abroad with Interpol red notices out for them. Those who did their bidding in SA — including former ministers Malusi Gigaba, Lynne Brown and Mosebenzi Zwane and SOE bosses and board members such as Brian Molefe, Anoj Singh and Daniel Mantsha — remain unbothered by law enforcement.
Bosasa scored contracts totalling just over R1bn from correctional services between 2004 and 2007.
— ID spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka
While the cases on the criminal court roll are not those of the biggest fish, ID spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka said that they have 11 criminal matters ongoing relating to the work of the commission. These include:
Bosasa
State v Vincent Smith
Former MP and erstwhile head of parliamentary portfolio committee on corrections Vincent Smith is on trial for tax fraud, money laundering, corruption and breaching the Financial Intelligence Centre Act. The tax fraud charges stem from Smith and his company euro Blitz’s failure to disclose R28m in taxable income earned between March 2009 and July 2018.
“Further, Smith stands accused in his capacity as well as a representative capacity for his company euro Blitz 48 Pty Ltd, he is charged with corruption for the gratifications he received from Bosasa in the form of security upgrades to his home in Gauteng to the tune of over R800,000,” Seboka said.
“He further faces corruption charges of accepting further gratifications from Waterfall Golf Estate and CLIDET 69 ... [and] for accepting cash transferred into his bank account and his company from Bosasa.
“Additional charges include failure to disclose to the parliaments register of members’ interest the gratifications, cash deposits and money that was paid to him by Waterfall Golf Estate and CLIDET 69,” Seboka said.
State v Angelo Agrizzi
Bosasa’s former COO Angelo Agrizzi is alleged to have paid bribes of more than R800,000 on behalf of Bosasa to Vincent Smith “in exchange for his influence, as the then chairperson of parliament’s oversight committee on correctional services”.
“Bosasa scored contracts totalling just over R1bn from correctional services between 2004 and 2007,” Seboka said.
State v Linda Mti and others
“The R1.8bn Bosasa and correctional services department fraud and corruption matter pertains to how four tenders were awarded to Bosasa and its subsidiaries between August 2004 and 2007,” said Seboka.
“The tender was for rendering catering and training services, installation of CCTV cameras, installing the perimeter fencing and supplying a television system and monitoring equipment.”
The accused in this case include former prisons head Linda Mti, the department’s former CFO Patrick Gillingham, former Bosas CFO Andries van Tonder and Agrizzi.
State v Bonifacio
This case involves allegations of corruption and money laundering against Bosasa accountant Carlos Bonifacio.
“The charges emanate from allegations that he facilitated a payment of a R180,000 bribe for the benefit of Gillingham, who was part of the department’s bid adjudication committee (BAC). The department’s BAC awarded contracts valued over R1bn to Bosasa,” Seboka said.
“The payment facilitated on behalf of Bosasa to a Roodepoort car dealership in April 2007 was a deposit for the purchase of a Mercedes-Benz valued at R550,000 for Gillingham.”
Vrede Dairy scandal, Free State
State v Kamal Vasram
“This matter is a R37.7m tax fraud case in relation to two associates of the Gupta brothers, [as well as] Kamal Vasram and Saliesh Indurjeeth. The [latter] pair faces charges linked to the failed Free State Estina project,” said Seboka.
They face charges of fraud, contravening the International Trade Administration Act and the Exchange Control Act, and charges arising from a joint investigation by Sars and the ID.
“The investigation revealed that Estina submitted customs clearance documents in support of a VAT refund claim. The customs declaration was then scrutinised, whereupon the declared value of over R37,7m for a so-called ‘NEW’ pasteurisation plant was suspected to be excessively high,” Seboka said.
“The suspected overpriced pasteurisation plant, which was imported from India, was rather invoiced to Estina by Gateway Ltd in the United Arab Emirates.”
Seboka said evidence suggests that Gateway was allegedly used and controlled by the Guptas as a conduit to launder money and extract funds from SA.
“The state further alleges that the overstated or inflated value was intentionally and unlawfully used by Estina and its sole director, Vasram, to launder funds from SA, to the prejudice of the taxpaying public in general.”
State v Peter Thabethe and others
Seboka said this case relates to R24.9m of procurement fraud paid, between November 2011 and April 2012, by the Free State department of agriculture to Nulane Investment 204, a company owned and controlled by alleged Gupta lieutenant Iqbal Sharma.
“From there the funds were diverted to [Gupta company] Islandsite Investments 180. The R24.9m was paid to Nulane purportedly to conduct a feasibility study for the Free State’s flagship Mohoma Mobung project on the basis that Nulane had unique skills to perform the work,” said Seboka.
The accused in the matter also includes Gupta lieutenant Ronica Ragavan, who is accused both in her personal capacity and as a representative of Islandsite Investments.
“The other accused in the matter is former Transnet board member Iqbal Sharma, former Free State head of department for rural development Peter Thabethe and the department’s former CFO Seipati Dhlamini. They face charges of fraud and money laundering. The former government officials are also charged with contravention of the Public Finance Management Act.
“The group is charged together with two companies, Nulane Investments 204 (Pty) Ltd and Islandsite Investments Pty Ltd,” Seboka said.
Eskom
State v France Hlakudi and others
This case involves how a R745m contract was awarded relating to the construction of Eskom’s Kusile Power Station in Mpumalanga to a company called Tubular Construction, which was later unduly increased to R1.4bn.
“The accused in the case are former Eskom senior executive France Hlakudi, former Eskom group executive for group capital division Abram Masango, businessman Maphoko Kgomoeswana and CEO of Tubular Construction Antonio Trindade, who was a service provider to Eskom, as well as seven other companies,” said Seboka.
“They face charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering.”
In a separate case, Hlakudi is charged with evading R30m in tax relating to his personal tax affairs and those of three of his companies.
In yet another case, Kgomoeswana is facing charges of evading R18m in tax.
“Kgomoeswana stands accused of tax evasion in his personal and representative capacity for his company, Babinatlou Business Services CC, between the period 2016 and 2018,” said Seboka.
“The tax fraud charges were discovered during the investigation of the controversial R745m Eskom Kusile Power Station corruption case. The Limpopo businessman and his company are accused of facilitating bribes”
Kgomoeswana, Hlakudi, Trindade and Tubular Construction have also had R1.4bn of their assets preserved by the state, which will be seized and forfeited if they are found guilty.
SAPS
State v Toshan Panday and others
This case relates to the R47m Soccer World Cup fraud and corruption scandal, in which KwaZulu-Natal businessman Toshan Panday and his family allegedly defrauded the police.
“The policemen who are accused in this matter face accusations of colluding with Panday to receive contracts from the KZN police,” said Seboka.
Those police officers include former KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Gen Mmamonnye Ngobeni, Col Navin Madhoe and former police captain Aswin Narainpershad.
Panday’s relatives who are charged in this case include his mother Arevenda, his wife Privisha, his sister Kajal Ishwarkumar and his brother-in-law Seveesh Maharaj Ishwarkumar. Even his personal assistant, Tasleem Rahiman, has been charged
“The group faces charges of racketeering, fraud, corruption and money laundering,” said Seboka.
NPA
Jackie Lepinka, the personal assistant of disgraced former acting national director of public prosecutions Nomgcobo Jiba, has been charged with the alleged theft of a NPA laptop the Hawks found when they raided her home.
The Zondo commission heard that she received a R20,000-a-month bribe from Bosasa to keep the company informed of the investigations against it.
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