THE Investigating Directorate (ID) is going after the Gupta-owned Optimum Mine.
This comes five years after former public protector Thuli Madonsela released her State Capture Report.
It detailed how Tegeta Resources, a company owned and controlled by the Guptas, acquired Optimum Coal Holdings from Glencore for R2,1 billion.
On Wednesday, ID filed two court applications to recover the stolen funds and on Thursday, served the respondents.
Spokeswoman Sindisiwe Seboka said the Gauteng division of the High Court would hear the preservation application on 8 March.
She said in the first application, ID was seeking to preserve all of Tegeta’s shares in the mine, Optimum Coal Terminal and business.
“It is the ID’s case that all these assets were acquired with the proceeds of crimes perpetrated against South African SOEs including Transnet and Eskom,” she said.
Seboka said a month prior to Tegeta furnishing the purchase price, the company did not have R2,1 billion to buy the mine.
She added that shortly thereafter, funds from Gupta-controlled entities Oakbay Investments, Albatime and Centaur, among others, were transferred into Tegeta’s account as loans.
“The ID seeks to persuade the court that officials employed by Eskom fraudulently and post-haste caused it to make a prepayment of R659 558 079,38 million to Tegeta on 13 April 2016. This prepayment was fraudulently presented as necessary to ensure the supply of coal to Arnot Power Station, when its true purpose was to avail Tegeta of the purchase price for Optimum.”
She added that a further R104 500 000, paid over to Tegeta as loans from Albatime and Trillian, can be traced to funds stolen from the Transnet second defined benefit fund by Regiments Fund Managers on 4 December 2015. An amount of R93 400 000 was tainted by fraud and corruption paid by Transnet to Trillian Asset Management, ostensibly as fees arising from the R12 billion ‘club loan’.
“These funds were laundered through Albatime and Trillian, and made available to Tegeta as loans. In October 2021, Albatime’s Kuben Moodley was arrested before a trip to Dubai, on charges related to these offences. He is expected to appear in court on 28 February,”she said.
ID said the second application was brought against Templar Ltd, an international investment firm and the largest independent creditor in Optimum.
It said the Templar claim was valued at approximately R1,3 billion.
“It is the ID’s case that the funds underlying the Templar claims were advanced by the Gupta family Dubai company, Griffin Line Trading LLC, controlled by Ajay Gupta’s son Kamal Singhala.
“Daniel McGowan, the owner of Templar, has stated under oath that the funds advanced by Griffin Line derived from money stolen from the SA government and laundered via Singhala on behalf of his family,” said Seboka.
With the two applications, the ID was seeking to have forfeited to the state, the proceeds of one of the primary criminal schemes linked to state capture.
“The NDPP is seeking an expedited hearing of the matter before 28 March, the deadline for implementation of the OCM business rescue plan.”
It said the preservation application was necessary to prevent the business rescue process from being abused to legitimise the proceeds of crime.
She said the goal was to ensure a fair open and competitive sale of the mine, in the interest of the mine workers, creditors and broader public.
“Notice was given to all the respondents to file answering affidavits by 28 January, showing why the assets, acquired by the Guptas and their associates, should not be preserved and later forfeited to the state,” she said.
