‘State Capture evidence assisted NPA’s Investigative Directorate to build its case’

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Investigative Directorate spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka says they relied on both their own evidence and that of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture to build their case against the former Transnet senior executives and Gupta-linked company executives.

This after the directorate arrested the former Transnet CEO Brian Molefe and the parastatal’s former CFO Anoj Singh on Monday.

The action was in connection with a fraud and corruption case linked to the procurement of over a thousand locomotives which saw the Gupta-linked company, Trillian Capital, gaining a R93 million consulting fee in 2015.

Singh and Molefe appeared in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court before they were released on bail of R50 000 each. Their next court appearance is on October 14.

Seboka explains the value of the evidence they have at their disposal: “You would know that at the State Capture Commission there were various allegations that were made, more particularly in the State Owned Entities, Transnet as well as Eskom, as to what happened. You would know that the evidence of Mr Francis Callard is quite pivotal in this matter.”

“However, as the Investigating Directorate, we also worked through our own investigations, [and] sourced our own investigative material before this matter was enrolled. However, we did have some form of regard for the Commission’s recommendations,” adds Seboka.

The Commission of Inquiry into State Capture had found that the Gupta brothers had allegedly received about R6 billion in kickbacks.

VIDEO: Former Transnet executives appear in court:

Attached assets

Earlier this month, Transnet said it has managed to attach assets to the value of R26 million which belonged to its former employees implicated in wrongdoing.

The company said most of these workers have either since resigned or were dismissed. The freight rail utility was briefing Parliament on the progress made regarding internal investigations of misconduct by Transnet employees.

Head of the Legal Service Unit, Sandra Coetzee, said all 17 investigations that were conducted together with the Special Investigating Unit have since been completed.

“The assets available to be monetized is R26 million. The process of monetizing those assets relates to the disposal, be that being in the form of an auction or some other form of a sale to recover the money itself. We have already recovered financials, over R14 million of R26 million in asset value. This is an ongoing process in collaboration with the SIU,” said Coetzee.

VIDEO: Former Transnet executives arrested for fraud, corruption: