[ad_1]
Vincent Smith, a former ANC deputy, at his court appearance.
- The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has granted a restraining order for assets worth R46 million belonging to former ANC MP Vincent Smith, including the ownership of his company Euro Blitz 48 and the family trust.
- The order also extends to certain assets of his daughter, Brumilda.
- Smith, former chairman of the National Assembly Correctional Services Portfolio Committee and former Bosasa operations director turned whistleblower, Angelo Agrizzi, were arrested and charged with corruption.
The Investigation Directorate of the National Tax Authority (NPA) obtained a restraining order for assets worth R46 million belonging to former ANC MP Vincent Smith, accused of corruption, his family trust and his daughter.
The order was entered in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on February 2.
However, the order was only delivered to Smith on Thursday.
Trevor Hills of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been appointed by the court as conservator to take control and preserve assets pending the outcome of criminal proceedings.
Smith, former chairman of the National Assembly Correctional Services Portfolio Committee and former Bosasa COO turned whistleblower, Angelo Agrizzi, were arrested and charged with corruption.
Smith faces additional fraud charges for alleged payments of R800,000 made to his company, Euroblitz 48, in 2015 and 2016.
The State alleges that the payments were made to Smith to silence his opposition to Bosasa during the parliamentary committee meetings. Smith has pleaded not guilty and maintains that the money was a loan from Agrizzi, which Agrizzi denies.
The order also extends to certain property of his daughter, Brumilda Smith, and the property of any other person or entity alleged to have received an affected gift under section 12 of the POCA, spokesperson Sindisiwe Twala said.
“The restraining order was necessary to preserve assets while investigations continue into additional illegal activities from which Smith made corrupt profits that were also not disclosed to SARS [South African Revenue Services] or the interests of the Secretary of the parliamentary deputies “.
In the request for restriction before Judge Elias Motojane, the Director of the Investigation Directorate, Hermione Cronje, indicated why more than R800,000 should be part of the restriction order.
She said:
The evidence reveals a pattern of corrupt activities that took place over a period of roughly a decade, during which Smith illegally enriched himself in exchange for the use of his political influence. He used Euro Blitz 48 (Pty) Ltd as a money laundering vehicle to receive the proceeds of those illicit activities on his behalf and to hide the nature and ownership of the product.
