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By IOL Reporter 
3h ago
Durban – Businessman Thoshan Panday and a senior KZN cop Colonel Navin Madhoe have been charged with fraud and corruption in connection with a 2010 FIFA World Cup R47m tender.
His arrest comes just weeks after the Pietermaritzburg High Court rejected his offer to have charges related to fraud and corruption related to temporary police accommodation during the World Cup be dropped.
It is alleged that Panday and his co-defendants, then-police officers Colonel Navin Madhoe and Captain Ashwin Narainpershad, defrauded the SAPS.
Sindisiwe Twala, a spokesperson for the NPA Investigation Directorate, without naming Panday or Ngobeni, said that three of the four people were arrested and expected to appear before the Durban Magistrates Court on Friday.
“The latest defendant has been seen in Cape Town and will not appear with the others because he has not yet been arrested… All those arrested have been charged with multiple counts of corruption. While three of them face five counts of fraud, two counts of forgery, one of Uttery. The arrests refer to the manipulation of the tender system of the KwaZulu-Natal police services in the period 2010 valued at R47 million, ”he said.
In September, The Mercury reported that Panday argued in the request for high court review that then-former head of the NPA, Shaun Abrahams, had acted outside of his powers and had made the decision to prosecute him.
Judge Trevor Gorven dismissed Panday’s request to review Abrahams’ decision to prosecute him in several cases at a cost.
According to Mercury, he also criticized Noko’s decision in 2017 not to prosecute Panday despite thousands of exhibits and a 400-page forensic report.
The judge said that the investigation into the accommodation issue “was not easy at all and, as a result, generated three more files.”
The main investigation arose when concerns were raised about the 55 million rand spent on purchasing accommodation in 2009/2010.
“Aside from the fact that 55 million rand was spent that year, only one agent had been used to obtain quotes. Most of the spending benefited Goldcoast Trading CC, which is allegedly linked to Mr. Panday.
“It also appeared that the bills had subsequently been inflated. Furthermore, it appeared that the invoices had been divided into amounts less than 200,000 rand to avoid the need for a full recruitment process and the scrutiny that was carried out. The invoices were allegedly approved by Colonel Madhoe, to whom payments were allegedly also made, ”the judge said.
Two other cases involved alleged interference in the investigation.
In the first, the former head of the KZN Hawks, Major General Johan Booysen, said that the then KZN SAPS provincial commissioner General Mmamonnye Ngobeni had ordered him to drop the investigation.
A case was opened regarding Ngobeni’s alleged actions.
In the second case, it was alleged that Madhoe, on behalf of Panday, attempted to bribe Booysen to drop the case.
Judge Gorven said that when Abrahams made his decision, he had “a record of about 3,790 pages,” which included invoices, witness statements and a forensic report that concluded that the documents supported fraud and corruption charges.
“Abrahams could conclude that the decision to prosecute was based on evidence believed to be reasonably reliable and admissible. Whether that material will be sufficient in any prosecution is a matter for a trial court to determine, ”he said.
The spokesman for the NPA Investigation Directorate, Sindisiwe Twala, said that the direction was studying the sentence, as the case fell within the mandate of the founding proclamation of the new body.
“This, however, means that we have no obstacles in examining the merits of this case. Last year there was testimony in the State Capture Commission about the capture of the forces of order and how this case falls into that mold, ”she said.
“We cannot speak at length about this case until we have made the decision to charge the people.”
Daily News
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