[ad_1]
Mmamonnye Ngobeni and Aswin Narainpershad in the dock at Durban Magistrates Court on Monday. Photo: Des Erasmus
The collective amount of the alleged fraud and corruption is R60 million.
The decision to prosecute retired KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Mmamonnye Ngobeni for her alleged role in a 10-year-old fraud and corruption case involving Umhlanga’s related businessman Thoshan Panday and two police officers was unconstitutional. , the Durban Magistrates Court heard on Monday.
Ngobeni was making his first appearance on the matter, as was Captain Aswin Narainpershad. Panday and Colonel Navin Madhoe appeared in the same court on Friday.
Panday, Madhoe and Narainpershad face charges of 230 counts of fraud that allegedly took place between 2008 and 2010 in connection with temporary police accommodation and other services for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The collective amount of the alleged fraud and corruption is of R60 million.
Madhoe is also accused of attempting to bribe former KZN Hawks director Johan Booysen in September 2011 with cash allegedly provided by Panday. Booysen was investigating the accusations of fraud and corruption. Madhoe was arrested in an attack, created by Booysen, when he allegedly handed out around R1.4 million in the parking lot of the police headquarters in Durban.
Ngobeni is accused of being an accessory after the fact. She is also accused of taking a bribe from Panday at the time in the form of a birthday party at an Umhlanga venue for her husband, a now retired major general.
Ngobeni, compared to the submissive Narainpershad, had a relaxed figure on the dock, a black scarf wrapped around her head, a black mask covering her mouth and nose, a faux fur bolero hugging her shoulders, hands moving from side to side. other and highlighted eyes through eyelash extensions.
It could have been a day at the races for Ngobeni, defendant number four, as she greeted the royal way, greeting reporters with a “Hello, hello, hello”, and at one point laughing, saying that all reporters should have the opportunity. They wanted. Ngobeni felt “fabulous,” he said, when asked.
Matters were quickly over for the light-built Narainpershad, and the state and his lawyer, Bilal Malani, agreed to bail of 10,000 rand. Zondo’s Commission of Inquiry into the state capture allegations heard in January through forensic investigator Trevor White that Panday had paid R43,500 in college fees for Narainpershad’s son in 2010.
As for Ngobeni, Prosecutor Talita Louw told Judge Vanitha Armu that the state was seeking R40,000 in bail.
“Defendant number four is not a police officer, Your Honor, she was the head of the KwaZulu-Natal police service, and therefore it has a greater duty for her to serve the community and make sure it is done. Justice. And that is why the State asks for a larger amount ”.
Representing Ngobeni, attorney Ravindra Maniklall addressed why his client had not been in court on Friday when Panday and Madhoe, who is also represented by Maniklall, appeared.
The absence of the former senior police officer led the National Tax Authority’s Investigation Directorate to say that Ngobeni was considered “at liberty” and that she could not be reached because her phone was switched off.
It was agreed that Ngobeni was supposed to turn himself in on October 22, Maniklall said.
“That later changed [on Friday evening] when she was telephoned by one of the investigators and they told her that she had to turn herself in on Monday, at which time the media had already reported that she was arrested and released.
He said that “implicit in the arrangement” was that his client had discussed a R10,000 bond with one of the investigating officers.
“It must be taken into account that the former provincial officer is no longer in active service, since 2018. She is retired [and dependent on a pension]. ”
Ngobeni had a fixed private address and did not live in the police residence she used to occupy, Maniklall said, “and this is where the state may have had some difficulty trying to locate her.”
He said R10,000 would be “more than enough” for Ngobeni’s bail.
Maniklall said the decision not to prosecute her was made by then-KwaZulu-Natal Director of Public Processes (DPP) Moipone Noko in connection with her husband’s party, which at the time was a separate case from the current one. dating back to 2010.
Ngobeni said Daily maverick over the weekend he had paid Panday for the party with his own funds.
“There was a certificate of nolle prosequi [a decision not to prosecute] which was issued by the [provincial] director of prosecutions [Noko] in 2014. It has never been revised, to the knowledge of [Ngobeni]from the time it aired in 2014 to the present, ”Maniklall said.
Last month, Panday lost its offer, at a cost, for a request for review of that decision in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, but on September 29, it requested permission to appeal. The court was scathing in its judgment on Noko’s decision not to prosecute. She is currently leading prosecutions in the Northwest, having been transferred to the post after leaving KZN.
Thus, he said, in terms of article 179 (5) (d) of the Constitution, the decision to prosecute Ngobeni, given the decision made by Noko and which had never been reviewed by any national director of public prosecution (NDPP), was “Irregular, it can be irrational and unconstitutional.”
Maniklall also said that the decision to prosecute his client in the present case (as an accessory to the fact) was “prima facie, factually and legally erroneous, irregular, irrational and unconstitutional,” because on March 25, 2014, a State defender The Specialized Commercial Crimes Unit (SCCU) refused to prosecute.
In her affidavit, Ngobeni said that the decision made by the SCCU defender was “confirmed and supported by KZN’s attorney Noko DPP” in an October 2014 memo. Noko’s decision not to prosecute her had also not been reviewed by none of the country’s authorities. NDPP said.
Noko also refused to prosecute Panday and his co-defendants for lack of evidence, despite a lot of things, including a 400-page forensic report. Ultimately, it was former NDPP Shaun Abrahams who said in 2017 that the matter should move forward.
Last month, Panday lost its bid, at a cost, for a request for review on that decision in Pietermaritzburg High Court, but on September 29, it requested permission to appeal. The court was scathing in its judgment on Noko’s decision not to prosecute. She is currently leading prosecutions in the Northwest, having been transferred to the post after leaving KZN.
However, addressing the court on the alleged fraud and corruption allegations at the FIFA World Cup, Maniklall said directives for the event were made at the national police level.
“It was done in the national office, there was a Bid Award Committee that sat down. She did not sign up for the World Cup hosting. She was not in charge of the contracts and financial matters related to the World Cup ”.
He also said that it was false that Ngobeni had tried to stop the investigations into the alleged fraud and corruption, “because they did not stop [investigating] for 10 years. ”
Louw told the court that she supported his contention that the nolle Prosequi certificate was not kept, and that there was “a case to answer”.
But Maniklall insisted on the issue, saying there was a strong possibility that the state could still “admit that the nolle prosequi certificate it was never bypassed by the national director of public prosecution, who is the only person in terms of the Constitution who can do it, ”which would leave his client 40,000 rand out of his pocket if the matter were removed from the list.
“The Constitution is very clear that once the director of the Prosecutor’s Office [at that stage Noko] makes the decision not to prosecute – she was the highest authority in KZN at that stage – the only way it can be overturned is if the review process is carried out by the NDPP.
“Mr. Abrahams took the review process with respect to Mr. Panday, and Mr. Madhoe and Mr. Narainpershad, but did not with respect [Ngobeni]. Therefore, this whole process is totally and desperately unconstitutional. ”
Bail was eventually set at 20,000 rand for the former provincial commissioner. She and Narainpershad will reappear with Panday and Madhoe on November 11. DM
