By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Six former senior employees of sugar producer Tongaat Hulett Ltd (THL) and the company’s former auditor, who have been implicated in a R1.5bn fraud case, were granted bail in the Durban specialised commercial crimes court.
Peter Staude, 68, Murray Munro, 55, Michael Deighton, 57, Rory Wilkinson, 50, Kamlasagrie Singh, 56, Samantha Shula, 50, and Gavin Kruger, 56, were granted bail of R30,000 each following their court appearance.
They face various counts of fraud and racketeering charges related to alleged corruption and mismanagement of funds of Tongaat Hulett Developments (THD) — a subsidiary property company of the Tongaat Hulett Group that facilitated investment in KwaZulu-Natal from land conversion activities across a variety of sectors.
According to the charge sheet, between March 2015 and September 2018 all seven accused acted in common purpose and allegedly backdated land sale agreements for THD.
This followed a damning 2019 PwC forensic investigation, initiated by current CEO John Hudson, which fingered the accused as being involved in inflating the group’s profits.
“When they were doing the sale, it is alleged that they were backdating [it],” said provincial Hawks spokesperson Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo.
He explained that because of the alleged fraud, Tongaat’s financial reports had incorrect information that misled shareholders.
“By doing those incorrect financial reports, they were getting huge bonuses and declaring incorrect profits. The actual loss that was suffered by Tongaat Hulett is R1.5 billion,” said Mhlongo.
Mhlongo added that the seven accused will reappear in court on 11 April.