Staff Reporter
The Free State High Court will on Thursday morning decide on the assets to be included in an unlimited restraint order against Iqbal Sharma and businesses that have been linked to him.
The restraint order, issued in June, pertains to Sharma, his company Nulane Investments 204 (Pty) Ltd as well as Islandsite Investments 180 (Pty) Ltd, which belongs to Atul and Rajesh Gupta and their wives, Chetali and Arti, respectively.
The freezing order is in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crimes Act.
“The order applies to assets in South Africa which include all property of Islandsite, Sharma and his wife Tarina Patel-Sharma, and any property held by Sharma’s companies, including two registered in the UAE,” says the Investigating Directorate.
The court in June additionally appointed a curator to take control of and preserve the assets pending the outcome of criminal charges for fraud and money laundering offences instituted against Sharma, Nulane, Islandsite and the four members of the Gupta family.
The other accused are the former head of the Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mbana Peter Thabethe, his predecessor Limakatso Moorosi, the department’s former chief financial officer Sylvia Seipati Dhlamini and Sharma’s brother-in-law Dinesh Patel.
Sharma and his co-accused face criminal charges relating to a contract concluded between Nulane and the Free State Department of Agriculture in 2011 for which Nulane was paid R24.9 million for a feasibility study that it subcontracted to Deloitte for R1.5 million.
The study related to potential farming projects in the Free State that were to be funded under ‘Mohoma Mobung’, a provincial initiative for rural upliftment and job creation.
Nulane recommended an Indian company, Paras Dairy, for the Vrede dairy project now linked to the Estina fraud investigation.
The fraudulent proceeds of R24.9 million paid to Nulane by the department were transferred between Nulane and several companies, including Gupta entities Islandsite and Pragat Investments (Pty) Ltd, to allegedly launder the funds ultimately directed to the Gupta family.
Other funds that flowed between the companies as part of the money laundering transactions are presumed proceeds of unlawful activities in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.
A second subcontract was concluded between Nulane and the UAE-based Gateway Limited, duplicating the one with Deloitte, in order to transfer R19 million offshore.
Gateway is linked to the Guptas.
Sharma’s assets that form part of the curator’s inventory include his Sandton home valued at over R12 million.
The property was featured on lifestyle television programme, Top Billing, and is owned through a UAE-registered company, Issar Global.
Other assets include movable property valued at R500 000 and a R1.3 million sectional title home in Sandton.
Properties owned by Gupta family company Islandsite that form part of the inventory include a house worth R21 million in Constantia, near Cape Town, and a R12 million house in Saxonwold.
Should the accused be convicted, the NDPP will apply for a confiscation order against Sharma and Islandsite to recoup the value of benefits derived from the offences and related criminal activities.