INTERPOL RED NOTICES ISSUED AGAINST ATUL GUPTA AND OTHERS WHILE R25 MILLION CASE TO BE TRANSFERRED TO BLOEMFONTEIN HIGH COURT
05 JULY 2021
The Bloemfontein Regional Court postponed the criminal case relating to the R25 million Nulane Investment case. The matter will be transferred to the Bloemfontein High Court on 06 September 2021 for trial.
The matter was postponed in the absence of the accused, as agreed between the NPA's Investigating Directorate and the defense, in the wake of the Covid-19 Level 4 lockdown regulations. Warrants against the accused out on bail will be issued yet stayed until the next appearance. lqbal Sharma on the other hand will continue to be incarcerated as he was not granted bail last month.
Former Transnet Board member lqbal Sharma, Nulane Investment employee Dinesh Patel, former Free State head of Department for Rural Development (FSDoRD), Peter Thabethe; former head of FS Department of Agriculture (FSDoA), Limakatso Moorosi; and former FSDoA CFO, Seipati Dhlamini face charges of fraud and money laundering. The former government officials are also charged with contravention of the Public Finance Management Act.
The case relates to procurement fraud involving R24.9 million, paid between November 2011 and April 2012 by the FSDoA to Nulane Investment 204 (PTY) LTD, a company owned and controlled by Sharma. From there the funds were diverted to Islandsite Investments 180 (Pty) (Ltd), a company owned and controlled by the Gupta family. The R24.9m was purportedly paid to Nulane to conduct a feasibility study for the Free State's flagship Mohoma Mobung project, on the basis that Nulane had unique skills to perform the work. The group is charged together with three companies, Nulane Investments 204, Wone Management, Pragat Investment and Islandsite Investments.
Advocate Hermione Cronje says that efforts to bring the Guptas back have intensified. "Interpol has issued red notices against: Atul Gupta and his wife, Chetah; Rajesh Gupta and his wife, Arti; Ankit Jain, former Nulane Investment Bank of Baroda account signatory; Ravindra Nath, director of Wone Management; Ramesh Bhat and Jagdish Parekh, the directors of Pragat Investments."
The docket has been disclosed to the six accused to aid them in preparation for trial.
Issued by Sindisiwe Seboka, Investigating Directorate Spokesperson, NPA, 5 July 2021
