R300K bail granted to each of four former Eskom staffers accused of grand corruption

In a statement on Thursday, the Hawks confirmed that former Eskom group executive for the Group Capital Division Abram Masango (51), former Eskom senior manager for the Group Capital Division France Hlakudi (48), as well as Antonio Jose Trindade (64) and Hudson Kgomoeswana (46), had appeared in the Johannesburg Regional Court this afternoon on charges fraud and corruption.

They were granted R300,000 bail each with a further condition to surrender their passports to the investigative officer.

The case was remanded to 25 May 2020, with the possibility of further arrests.

The accused companies are Hlakudi Translation and Interpretation and Bon Service Telekom, represented by Hlakudi; Tubular Construction Projects, Abeyla Trading, Tubular Technical Construction, and Cosira Tubular Joint Venture, all represented by Trindade and Babinatlou; and Business Service, owned by Kgomoeswana.

“One suspect is still outstanding and he is believed to be in the United Kingdom. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) will henceforth proceed with the extradition process,” said Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi.

The suspects were arrested early this morning in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Gauteng by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team in collaboration with the NPA’s Investigative Directorate.

Investigations began when suspicions were raised aboutthe construction of two large projects at the Medupi and Kusile power stations.

This revealed that there was apparent gross manipulation of contractual agreements between contractors, Eskom employees and third parties at the Kusile power station.

“In-depth investigations pointed to the fact that the contract was manipulated in a number of ways including, amongst others, manipulation of the Eskom’s procurement system by officials who occupied senior management positions, descoping of the contract at Kusile without justification and with conflict of interest by Eskom employees,” added Mulaudzi.

“In June 2015, Eskom’s Kusile project management team submitted a request to the Eskom procurement committee for a mandate to negotiate and conclude a contract with Tubular Technical Construction (Pty) Ltd.

“The contract was approved in 2015 for R745 million to build two Air Cooled Condensers units at Kusile power station.

“It is alleged that from February 2015 to July 2017, the appointed companies, other related entities and individuals shared approximately R30 million amongst themselves.”

(Edited by Charles Cilliers)

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