Gupta-owned company directors to challenge NPA’s unlimited restraint order

The High Court in Bloemfontein is expected on Friday to hear an application by the directors of Gupta-owned company, Islandsite Investments, in their bid to challenge the unlimited restraint order against the company.

Restraint order

The restraint order was granted in August last year in favour of the NPA’s Investigating Directorate (ID) by Free State judge president Cagney Musi, under the Prevention of Organised Crime (POCA) Act. The restraint order was extended to 16 March 2022.

Judge Musi ruled at the time that the directors of Islandsite, represented by Ronica Ragavan, had no legal standing in challenging the restraint order against former Gupta associate Iqbal Sharma, his company Nulane Investments, and Islandsite Investments – which belongs to Atul and Rajesh Gupta and their wives, Chetali and Arti Gupta.

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The high court confirmed that the business rescue practitioners Kurt Knoop and Johan Kloppers were the only ones who could represent Islandsite in the litigation.

Fraud, money laundering case

The companies and former Free State government officials face fraud and money laundering charges in connection with a R24.9 million procurement fraud – paid between November 2011 and April 2012 – by the Free State Department of Agriculture to Nulane Investment.

The funds were purportedly paid to Nulane Investment to conduct a feasibility study for the province’s flagship Mohoma Mobung project, however, the money was allegedly diverted to the Gupta family’s Islandsite Investments.

The accused in the matter is Ragavan, who stands accused in her personal capacity and in her representative capacity as a director of Islandsite Investments.

“The other accused in the matter is former Transnet board member Iqbal Sharma, former Free State head of Department for Rural Development, Peter Thabethe, and former Free State Department of Agriculture chief financial officer, Seipati Dhlamini, as they face charges of fraud and money laundering,” said the ID’s spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka in a statement.

Seboka said the former government officials were also charged with contravention of the Public Finance Management Act.

Trial date set

On Wednesday, the high court ruled that the fraud and money laundering trial would start from 23 January 2023 until 3 March 2023.

This after the court heard pre-trial issues and adjourned to finalise the pre-trial issues on 24 June 2022.

Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe

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