Iqbal Sharma deemed a flight risk and denied bail
8 June 2021
Former Transnet Board member and Gupta family associate, lqbal Sharma, has been denied bail.
The NPA Investigating Directorate (ID) told the court that Sharma was a flight risk and failed to disclose that he had transferred R264,4 million to Issar Global based in the United Arab Emirates between 22 August 2016 and 08 December 2016.
The ID further told the court that his South African assets account for 10% of his total assets. He has made more than 100 flights to and from the airports in the UAE since 2010. Sharma is a citizen of the world and has connections to several foreign countries. He additionally speaks three different international languages: French, Urdu, and Hindi.
Sharma and three others were arrested on 03 June in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and the Free State. The three were all granted R10 000 bail. They are former Free State, Agriculture, and Rural Development (FSDoARD) head, Peter Thabethe; former head of FSDoA, Limakatso Moorosi; and former FSDoA Chief Financial Officer, Seipati Dhlamini.