Eskom crook, state set for assets battle
ESKOM director Dawid Malherbe pocketed more than R10million by defrauding the parastatal — and now he faces a fight to keep his houses and cars.
After being convicted last week of fraud and money laundering, Malherbe was hit with a confiscation order by the Asset Forfeiture Unit.
The Bellville Specialised Commercial Crimes Court will conduct an inquiry to determine how much Malherbe benefited from his crimes.
He paid R2.5-million via a company for a property at Harbour Island in Gordon’s Bay and R1.3-million for a home in Bellville. He transferred R444 480 from his private bank account into the bond of another beachfront property in Gordon’s Bay.
Malherbe also bought a Toyota Prado for R670 000, an Echo Kavango off-road trailer for R189 250 and transferred R390 160 from his private account into his wife’s account.
The confiscation application will be heard on August 25, a week after Malherbe is sentenced.
The fraudster was the manager of PN Energy Services (PNES), an Eskom subsidiary that built and maintained electrical infrastructure in Khayelitsha. The subsidiary was incorporated into the parastatal in 2008.
Malherbe procured two contracts for his company, Energy Utility Services, which received payments of up to R65-million between 2009 and 2010 — money that should have gone to Eskom or its subsidiary. He made a profit of R10.2-million.
He was also convicted of misrepresenting his company’s BEE status to secure the contracts, “indicating that there was external black empowerment and/or was 45% black owned”, the charge sheet said.
“[He] sought to bind Eskom to a three-year contract with [Energy Utility Services] despite the fact that PNES would cease to operate by December 31 2009.”
According to the prosecution, Malherbe failed to disclose his conflict of interest when he bid for the contracts, misused sensitive information for his benefit and did not recuse himself from deliberations around PNES.
A Hawks investigation found that Malherbe transferred money between accounts to “disguise or conceal” its origin.
His lawyer, Keith Gess, said he would appeal against his conviction. “Unfortunately we have to through the processes; you can only appeal once you are sentenced,” he said.
Malherbe quit Eskom in 2009 and was arrested in 2013 after Eskom alerted the Hawks to suspected irregularities.
“As a director of one of Eskom’s subsidiaries, he facilitated the award of a tender to his own company,” the utility said.
“Investigations by Eskom as well as the reports from external auditors found that Mr Malherbe’s actions amounted to wasteful and fruitless expenditure on the part of Eskom.”