Staff Reporter
The state will have to wait for at least three months to get a confirmation from court on the preservation order that allowed assets worth over R520 million owned by Iqbal Sharma and others to be seized in June this year.
The judge president of the Free State High Court, Cagney Musi, said the parties to the matter agreed to push the matter forward to allow everyone to submit responses before the matter is argued in court.
The matter will now be heard on November 18.
Investigating Directorate (ID) spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka said the judge will however rule on who should represent one of the accused companies, Islandsite, as it is currently under business rescue.
“Judge president Musi has postponed the matter to next week when he will hand down judgment as to whether the directors of Islandsite have authority to represent their company while it is under business rescue and in the control of business rescue practitioners,” said Seboka.
She said the interim restraint order granted in June has been extended to November 18 when it will either be confirmed or set aside as requested by the Asset Forfeiture Unit of the ID.
The said assets belong to Sharma, his wife Tarina Patel, his company Nulane Investments 204 (Pty) Ltd as well as Islandsite Investments 180 (Pty) Ltd, owned by Atul and Rajesh Gupta and their wives, Chetali and Arti, respectively.
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.