[ad_1]
By Baldwin Ndaba 
12h ago
Johannesburg – Former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi got into trouble with the Hawks due to their planned trip to Italy in July, but Supreme Court Vice President Raymond Zondo saved the day by blocking the alleged leak.
This was the damning evidence heard against Agrizzi when he appeared Wednesday in Palm Ridge Specialized Commercial Crimes on charges of corruption.
Agrizzi was indicted along with ANC MP and former Correctional Services Portfolio Committee Chair Vincent Smith.
Charges against Smith were postponed until December 3, but Agrizzi was held for allegedly planning to flee to Italy and avoid prosecution on multiple other counts of fraud, corruption, money laundering and conspiracy to commit fraud and corruption.
Agrizzi’s alleged plan to flee to Italy and live a life of luxury beyond South Africa’s borders is contained in Lt. Col. Bernadus Lazarus’s affidavit, filed in court this week.
In his affidavit, Lt. Col. Lazarus said he learned of the planned escape after Agrizzi informed him of her intention to travel in July.
At the time of Agrizzi’s request, the court heard, Lazarus was in possession of Agrizzi’s South African passport as part of his bail condition for an unrelated charge of fraud and corruption worth R1.8 billion.
Agrizzi was indicted on multiple counts of fraud and corruption with four others, including former National Correctional Services Commissioner Linda Mti in February of last year.
Lázaro said that what aroused his alarm was that Agrizzi did not ask for his SA passport, but insisted on starting his trip. The court heard that the two things saved the trip, one of them was Judge Zondo.
The judge, according to the evidence in court, had given Agrizzi a summons to be present when former Gauteng Prime Minister Nomvula Mokonyane appeared before the commission to refute allegations that she also benefited financially from Bosasa.
The Hawks, the court heard, were satisfied that the subpoena prevented Agrizzi from undertaking his journey. The other reasons put forward was that South Africa was still under Covid-19 level 3, preventing any international travel.
The court heard that the planned trip emboldened the Hawks’ investigations that Agrizzi wanted to flee the country.
In his affidavit, Lazarus said that when Agrizzi made his request, his team was already investigating leads that Agrizzi was sending millions to overseas accounts and that he had already purchased a home and luxury vehicle in Italy.
To compound Agrizzi’s problems, the Hawks found that he had defaulted on his R13.5m bond and owed a local bank R8.1m.
In their affidavit, Lazarus said the huge defaults convinced them of the planned escape because Agrizzi was allegedly prioritizing his overseas accounts over his fixed assets in South Africa.
Lazarus, in his affidavit, also wrote that Agrizzi did not disclose his foreign investments during his February 2019 bond application at the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court.
Agrizzi also did not make a similar statement in court Wednesday, prompting Magistrate Phillip Venter to reject his request for bail.
Agrizzi’s defense attorney, Mannie Witz, tried to persuade the magistrate that his client had the approval of the Reserve Bank of South Africa to invest in overseas accounts, but the court had none of that.
Judge Venter, in his ruling, said he did not want to allow him to go and behave like the Guptas who allegedly refuse to be extradited to SA to face criminal charges against them.
Not even an oxygen pump he carried in court managed to persuade the court to rule in his favor. Venter said there were medical facilities in prison services that could treat his condition, but the opposite turned out.
On Thursday, a day after being denied bail, Agrizzi had to be rushed to an “external hospital” for treatment, including testing for Covid-19.
On Friday, he did not appear in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court along with Commissioner (DCS) Linda Mti; former DCS CFO Patrick Gillingham and former Bosasa CFO Andries Van Tonder.
Investigations Directorate spokesman Sindisiwe Twala said the case was postponed in Agrizzi’s absence and said the court was notified that he had been admitted to the hospital.
All face charges of fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, corruption, and money laundering. The charges are related to four tenders awarded to Bosasa and its subsidiaries valued at more than R1.8 billion, between August 2004 and 2007.
The contracts were for the provision of catering and training services, installation of closed-circuit television cameras, perimeter fencing, and provision of television systems and surveillance equipment.
In his application for bail, Agrizzi told the court that his comorbidities will make him more prone to contracting Covid-19 in jail, but test results on Friday revealed that he had tested negative.
Agrizzi is due to file another fight to be released on bail in South Gauteng Superior Court in Joburg next week.
Political Bureau
[ad_2]
