Claims of high-level rot in NPA met with silence
THERE has been a deafening silence from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the police after forensic consultant Paul O’Sullivan this week made allegations of high-level corruption within the unit’s ranks.
The super-sleuth fingered a group of top police officials and a magistrate allegedly involved in corrupt activities with Czech fugitive, Radovan Krejcir. In a press conference on Wednesday, O’Sullivan and AfriForum released a series of documents – some initially believed to have been taken from Krejcir’s criminal case dockets – that allegedly prove corrupt dealings between the Czech and former head of detectives, Lieutenant-General Vinesh Moono, Major-General Joey Mabasa, Magistrate Stephan Holzen and embat- tled crime-intelligence head, Lieutenant-General Richard Mdluli.
“None of Krejcir’s crimes would have been possible without the assistance and protection of senior officials within the criminal justice system who, instead of locking him up, colluded with him to commit fraud, corruption, racketeering, robbery and murder, and to defeat the ends of justice. I have opened multiple dockets that contain volumes of prima facie evidence against these senior officials, and yet none of them have to date been brought to book,” said O’Sullivan in a statement.
While allegations emerged from legal teams linked to the Krejcir criminal cases that the documents released were taken illegally, O’Sullivan has fired back, saying he was the one who initially drafted them.
O’Sullivan told the Satur- day Star that the affidavits, including those of alleged hit man George Louca, and a section 204 witness in another of Krejcir’s trials, were created through interviews with the subjects he either conducted or helped to conduct. He said he had also helped edit the letter in which Krejcir allegedly tried to strike a plea deal by testifying against the top officials.
The letter was part of a deal Krejcir was negotiating with police and the NPA to allow him to serve his criminal sentence in the Czech Republic. However, Krejcir, during an appearance in the high court in Joburg on Wednesday, personally denied knowledge of the letter or having given instructions to send it, saying the first time he had seen it was last Saturday, despite it being sent to the NPA early this month.
In a follow-up statement that day, Krejcir’s other lawyers claimed he had zero input in creating the letter, and that the names of the top cops were placed by Eric Bryer. “The names mentioned were added with the help of O’Sullivan as he has his own agenda against those people…
“Radovan is legally seeking to be extradited” claiming his human rights have been violated “and (he) is living in inhumane conditions, and it is clear that he will never receive a fair trial in South Africa,” it read.
O’Sullivan freely admits as- sisting with the letter, and said, while Krejcir’s crimes were serious, he supported the plea deal as it was more important the “corrupt underbelly” of the local police be exposed.
Despite the seriousness of the allegations against the NPA official and police heads current and former, both organisations have refused to comment on O’Sullivan’s claims.
NPA spokesperson Phindi Louw said that her organisation would not be commenting at this time.
National police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala told the Saturday Star in a text message yesterday: “No one is aware of that press conference. (There have been) no comments from the police because they know nothing about the conference.” (This was the response even after the allegations were sent to him on Wednesday for comment.)