Former Transnet board member and Gupta associate, Iqbal Sharma, has approached the high court in Bloemfontein for a bail appeal.
Sharma took the matter to the high court after the Bloemfontein Regional Court denied him bail in early June. He is amongst 17 accused persons and companies who are implicated in defrauding the Free State Department of Agriculture in 2011.
The matter is related to R24.9 million that was meant to conduct a feasibility study.
Four of his co-accused were granted bail last month. They are Peter Thabethe; Limakatso Moorosi; Seipati Dhlamini and Sharma’s brother-in-law, Dinesh Patel.
Sharma is the sole director of Nulane Investment company through which millions of rand were siphoned. From there, the funds were diverted to Island Site Investments, a company owned and controlled by the Gupta family.
In his last bail application, the state opposed bail, citing that Sharma presents an overwhelming flight risk and has the means and incentives to flee the country. It also raised concern that he had failed to disclose R265 million held in his United Arab Emirates Issar Global account.
Gupta family associate, Iqbal Sharma, denied bail:
