By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Bloemfontein High Court has dismissed charges against the accused in the R24.9m Nulane Investment fraud and money-laundering case on Friday.
During Friday’s court proceedings, Acting Judge Nompumelelo Gusha ruled that the accused were acquitted of the charges against them.
Judge Gusha said the state failed to prove any common purpose in relation to the alleged Nulane fraud.
“In the circumstances, I make the following order: the application in terms of Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act for the discharge of accused number one, three up to eight is granted as follows – accused number one is found not guilty and discharged in respect of counts one and two.
“Accused number three and six are found not guilty and discharged in respect of count two. Accused four, five, seven, and eight are found not guilty and discharged in respect of counts two, three and four,” she ruled.
Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which provides for discharge of the accused at the close of a trial, states if the court is of the view that “there is no evidence that the accused committed the offence referred to in the charge or any offence of which he may be convicted on the charge, it may return a verdict of not guilty”.
Judge Gusha said it was clear that R24.9 million had flowed from the state’s coffers but regrettably the prosecution had failed to show what happened to the money.
Judge Gusha also slammed the state for rushing the investigation into the matter, adding some of the documents in the case were altered and the state’s witness – Free State agriculture department official Shadrack Cezula – was dishonest and “evasive” in his testimony.
“No evidence was proffered to this court with regards to when, why, and by whom the documents were altered, “she said.
The five accused in the trial who applied for discharge are former Gupta associate Iqbal Sharma, former head of the Free State Department of Rural Development Peter Thabethe, former provincial agriculture chief financial officer (CFO) Seipati Dhlamini, Sharma’s brother-in-law and a representative of Nulane, Dinesh Patel, and Gupta-owned Islandsite Investments director, Ronica Ragavan.
The companies that were indicted are Nulane Investments and Islandsite Investment.
Accused number two, the former head of the Free State Department of Agriculture – Limakatso Moorosi, did not apply for discharge application. Moorosi was also acquitted of the charges against her.
The government had founded its ultimately unsuccessful request for the extradition of Atul and Rajesh Gupta on the charges set out in the Nulane case and those in the Estina matter, in which a further R280 million flowed to their bank accounts.
The Vrede Dairy Project case is set to return to court in August, but the state’s failure in the Nulane case may raise understandable concerns about its prospects of success in that trial.
The prosecution had alleged that the two brothers were part of a conspiracy to defraud the Free State government and intended to add them to the list of accused if they were surrendered to South Africa.
It relied on the doctrine of common purpose to prove that all the accused colluded to commit fraud and ensure most of the money made its way to a United Arab Emirates Standard Chartered Bank account linked to the Gupta family.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is considering appealing.
“We will be reflecting on the judgment with a view to determine legal avenues to explore,” said Andrea Johnson, who leads the NPA’s Investigating Directorate.
“The outcome of this case has no bearing on our ability to prosecute other state capture cases. We remain resolute in our commitment and ability to vigorously prosecute those responsible for state capture and corruption.”