Former Bosasa and Prison Bosses Appear in Court Over R1.8 Billion Fraud
The former Commissioner of Correctional Services, Linda Mti, and four others have appeared in the Pretoria Specialized Commercial Crimes Court in connection with charges relating to four tenders worth over R1.8 billion awarded to the now infamous Bosasa company of Gavin Watson, who died in a car crash late last year. The company allegedly went […]
The former Commissioner of Correctional Services, Linda Mti, and four others have appeared in the Pretoria Specialized Commercial Crimes Court in connection with charges relating to four tenders worth over R1.8 billion awarded to the now infamous Bosasa company of Gavin Watson, who died in a car crash late last year. The company allegedly went on to score R34 billion in government contracts.
Mti, former Correctional Service CFO Patrick Gillingham, Bosasa Operations COO Angelo Agrizzi, and the company’s erstwhile CFO Andries Van Tonder, face charges of fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, corruption and money laundering.
‘’This prosecution deals with the early days of corruption perpetrated by Bosasa,” said Hermione Cronje, the head of the Investigating Directorate at the National Prosecuting Authority.
“The company and its subsidiaries and affiliates went on to secure in excess of R34 billion in government contracts from a range of government departments at all levels of government even after the corruption in these four initial tenders was laid bare in 2010.”
The NPA’s investigations into those who enabled the corruption to continue were the subject of ongoing investigations, she said.
“More arrests in the matter will follow as these investigations draw to a close.”
The latest matter relates to four tenders awarded to Bosasa Operations PTY (Ltd) and its subsidiaries valued at over R1.8 billion between August 2004 and 2007. The contracts related to the rendering of catering and training services, installation of CCTV cameras, installing of perimeter fencing and supply of television systems and monitoring equipment.
The matter was postponed to 16 October to set a trial date. The investigating Directorate prosecutors and the legal team for the accused agreed to meet for a pretrial conference and interlocutory issues before that date.
All the accused are out on R20 000 bail each and they surrendered their passports. Their bail was extended.