Matshela Koko and his family allegedly spent R38 million in kickbacks – report

Former Eskom executive, Matshela Koko and his family allegedly spent R38 million in kickbacks from a R2 billion tender on holidays and properties.

News24 has reported that R14 million of the total was spent on upgrading a block of flats in Middelburg as per the charge sheet and an affidavit by an investigating officer.

According to the affidavit, Koko also travelled abroad more than 30 times since January 2018 – including trips to Dubai, Addis Ababa and Hong Kong among others.

ALSO READ: Koko’s arrest ‘huge but not promising’ due to ‘vague’ accusations – analyst

The money trail reportedly started from Eskom contractor, Asea Brown Boveri (ABB), and flowed into bank accounts belonging to a company called Impulse International, a company which was partially owned by Koko’s stepdaughter.

Koko was arrested on Thursday along with his wife Mosima and stepdaughters, Koketso Aren and Thato Choma.

They are facing charges of corruption, fraud and money laundering.

Bail

In addition, Koko’s associate Watson Seswai, former SA Local Government Association (Salga) chief executive Thabo Mokoena and Johannes Coetzee, a lawyer who allegedly devised the money laundering scheme were also arrested and charged.

All the accused have appeared in court and were released on bail ranging from R70 000 to R300 000.

RELATED: Matshela Koko’s arrest will test Zuma loyalties

All passports belonging to the accused were also seized and they were warned to appear in court again on 23 March 2023.

Koko, who claims the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has “set itself up for failure”, was ordered report to the Douglasdale police station.

The former Eskom boss must notify the investigating officer if he plans to travel outside the Gauteng province.

Nobody wants to be charged.

The silver lining after being charged is that the state has to proof is case beyond reasonable doubt. It’s not going to be a Stalingrad experience because @NPA_Prosecutes has set itself up for failure. My family & I welcome the developments of today

— Engineer Matšhela Koko, MBL (@koko_matshela) October 27, 2022

This is the second round of arrests linked to the ABB contract at Kusile.

The Investigating Directorate (ID) arrested four people in connection to the ABB-Impulse contract in July this year.

Former ABB employees, Muhammed Mooidheen and Vernon Pillay, were accused of using their influence and cashing in on irregular gratifications estimated at R8.6 million, which included cash and luxury vehicles, for awarding an irregular contract to Impulse.

In addition, their spouses were also alleged to have benefited from the contract.

All four suspects’ assets were seized by the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) and they are currently out on bail.

Eskom-ABB deal

ABB entered into a multibillion-rand contract with Eskom in 2015.

The Swiss engineering company was awarded a R2.2-billion control and instrumentation contract for Eskom’s Kusile Power Station.

After getting the deal, ABB then irregularly awarded a R549.6 million sub-contract to Impulse International.

READ MORE: Eskom’s R1.5 billion recovery a hollow victory

The company was among four other contractors named by Eskom to have benefited from overpayments to work on Kusile.

In December 2020, ABB reached an agreement with Eskom and the Specialised Investigating Unit (SIU) to repay R1.5 billion back for the overpayment.

State Capture

The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, which was chaired by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, found that Koko was an integral part of the Gupta family’s capture of Eskom.

In the State Capture report, Zondo recommended that Koko should be criminally investigated for a raft of state capture-related crimes, including the ABB deal and the Guptas’ controversial Tegeta deal.

NOW READ: ‘Let the NPA bring it on’: Koko says Zondo is setting up NPA for failure