Hawks appeal for more witnesses against Bosasa
Agrizzi arrested, given R20 000 bail with four others
THE Hawks yesterday urged potential whistle-blowers who had information on fraudulent deals involving Bosasa to come forward, on a day of drama that saw five suspects appear in court over fraud involving R1.6 billion.
The five suspects are Bosasa’s former chief operations officer Angelo Agrizzi; Frans Vorster, a former employee of the controversial facilities management company; former Bosasa chief financial officer Andries van Tonder; another man; and the former chief financial officer of the Department of Correctional Services, Patrick Gillingham.
They appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Pretoria and were granted bail of R20 000 each.They face charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering relating to contracts awarded to Bosasa by the Department of Correctional Services.
Three companies, African Global Operations (formerly Bosasa) and two Bosasa subsidiaries, Sondolo IT and Phezulu Fencing, were included in the charge sheet.
Hawks spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi said more arrests were imminent, and that two suspects yet to be arrested were not in Gauteng, but arrangements were being made for their cases to be processed in the province.
“Five people were arrested, and more people will still be arrested. There are two outstanding (arrests); the identity of these people cannot be revealed as yet,” said Mulaudzi.
The Hawks were encouraging people to come forward with information related to the investigation.
Mulaudzi said a sixth person being sought, who was overseas, had been informed that a warrant for his arrest had been issued. “It is alleged that the officials received and accepted gifts in the form of cash. They also allegedly received financial assistance in acquiring properties, acquiring motor vehicles from dealers, other assets; and payments to travel agents for overseas travel,” said Mulaudzi.
He said Bosasa chief executive officer Gavin Watson was not arrested because the unit was working on the information it had – despite the fact that those who appeared at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture had said Watson was at the centre of the corruption. Mulaudzi said there were two separate indictments related to the Bosasa matter.
Agrizzi, in his testimony before the Zondo Commission, implicated current Bosasa executives, senior government officials and top ANC leaders in acts of bribery, money laundering, fraud and corruption.
He also revealed that the company had deleted 40 000 documents implicating executives in corruption just days before the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) was to gain access to them.
The head of the SIU, advocate Andy Mothibi, welcomed the arrests, and said the SIU would continue to monitor testimony at the commission and “take appropriate action to hold those involved accountable”.
Meanwhile, the DA has called for the arrest of Watson following the arrest of the five suspects.
The party’s Natasha Mazzone said although the party welcomed the arrests, it was disappointed that Watson was not among those detained, despite the testimony placing him at the centre of corruption at Bosasa.
“Testifying under oath, former Bosasa employee Richard le Roux revealed that he was instructed, on numerous occasions, by Gavin Watson and former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi to delete security footage captured at Bosasa offices.
“Le Roux testified that, on one such occasion, he saw and deleted footage of former president Jacob Zuma, accompanied by (Police Minister) Bheki Cele and Dudu Myeni. This follows marathon testimony by Agrizzi, which described Zuma and Myeni’s relationship with Bosasa and detailed alleged cash payments and gifts,” said Mazzone.
The five suspects are expected to make their second court appearance on March 27.