Former Senior Eskom Employees Arrested for Fraud, Granted R300,000 Bail Each

Two former Eskom senior managers are among those arrested in South Africa for alleged fraud, corruption and money laundering worth R745 million.

Hawks spokesperson, Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said the former managers as well as two other business directors among others, were arrested in the early hours of Thursday in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Gauteng provinces by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team.

Those arrested are former Eskom Group Executive (Group Capital Division) Abram Abie Masango (51), former Eskom Senior Manager (Group Capital Division) France Hlakudi (48); as well as Antonio Jose Trindade (64) and Hudson Kgomoeswana (46).

Another suspect is still “outstanding”. He is believed to be in the UK. The NPA is proceeding with the extradition process to get him back to SA.

The suspects were arrested in connection with fraud and corruption committed at Eskom’s Kusile power station which is located in Mpumalanga.

“Investigations began when suspicions were raised into the construction of two large projects at Medupi and Kusile power stations.  This revealed that there was apparent gross manipulation of contractual agreements between contractors, Eskom employees and third parties at Kusile power station,” said Mulaudzi.

He added that in-depth investigations pointed to the fact that the contract was manipulated in several ways including, amongst others manipulation of the Eskom’s procurement system by officials who occupied senior management positions.

In June 2015, Eskom’s Kusile Project management team submitted a request to Eskom Procurement Committee for a mandate to negotiate and conclude a contract with one of the companies.

“The contract was approved in 2015 for R745 million to build two Air Cooled Condensers (ACC) units at Kusile power station.  It is alleged that from February 2015 to July 2017, the appointed companies, other related entities and individuals shared approximately R30 million amongst themselves,” said Mulaudzi.

The team worked in collaboration with the National Prosecuting Authority’s Investigative Directorate.

The suspects appeared in the Johannesburg Regional Court on Thursday afternoon for alleged fraud and corruption.

They were granted R300,000 bail each with a further condition to surrender their passports to the investigative officer. The case has been remanded to 25 May 2020 with a possibility of further arrests.

Source: SAnews.gov.za