State guns for Le Roux brothers’ company shares

● On hunt for missing Bay IPTS funds, asset forfeiture unit seeks restraint order against two directors and their business interests

koend@theherald.co.za

Not only brothers in name, they were also brothers in arms in business in an alleged “well-oiled” machine set up to pilfer millions of rand meant to be used for the Bay’s beleaguered Integrated Public Transport System (IPTS).

And for their alleged underhanded dealings and misuse of government funds, Gqeberha attorney David le Roux, his brother, Abraham, as well as their businesses, may soon find themselves in troubled waters if the asset forfeiture unit (AFU) has its way.

On Wednesday, robust arguments were heard in the Gqeberha high court where the state brought an application for a provisional restraint order against the Le Rouxs and the various business entities they were, or are still, part of.

The application formed part of a previous provisional restraint order granted in July which saw luxury properties, plots, farms and vehicles attached by the AFU in an attempt to recoup about R100m siphoned from the metro’s coffers by various businesspeople and government officials.

On Wednesday, the provisional restraint order was made final and absolute.

Ex-IPTS project manager

Mhleli Tshamase, former infrastructure and engineering executive director Walter Shaidi, businessman Fareed Fakir, events company owner Andrea Wessels and her son, Rukaard Abrahams, former assistant director in the metro’s budget and treasury department Nadia Gerwel, Le Roux and his law firm, former Bay ANC regional secretary Zandisile Qupe and axed deputy mayor and former ANC MPL Chippa Ngcolomba conceded to the order.

Relatives of the nine accused cited as respondents in court papers also agreed to the order, while at least eight companies, mainly represented by the Le Roux brothers, opposed the application by the state to attached their assets or property.

Addressing the court, AFU advocate Warren Myburgh said the purpose of the restraint order was to prevent the dissipation of assets purchased or gained through the alleged unlawful activities of the nine defendants. On Tuesday, they pleaded not guilty to a host of charges including fraud, money laundering, corruption and racketeering.

Abraham le Roux does not face any criminal charges.

The final restraint order prevents them from selling the assets, worth almost R20m, including:

● Two properties, one in Johannesburg and one in Westering, owned by Tshamase and his wife, Nozibele, worth about R1.6m;

● A R2.2m Summerstrand property owned by Shaidi and his wife, Agnes, as well as a caravan worth R60,000, and three cars totalling R400,000;

● A Westering property in the names of Gerwel’s two children, worth R1.25m;

● A Toyota Corolla worth R43,000 in Gerwel’s name;

● A R2.3m Summerstrand home in the names of Le Roux and his wife, Juliette;

● A R4m Theescombe property in the name of Qupe and his ex-wife, Ruth, along with a property in Ibhayi in Qupe’s name, worth R520,000;

● A property with no estimated value owned by Ngcolomba in Ibhayi;

● A R2.4m Mount Croix property in the name of Woodlands

Safari (Pty) Ltd, of which Le Roux is a director; and

● A R2.4m Summerstrand property and a R780,000 Kariega property registered in the name of Abraham, as well as five plots in Kariega and Humansdorp with no estimated value.

Most of the properties are not bonded.

Myburgh told the court that it had been accepted, by consent, by the nine accused that should they be convicted their listed assets would be confiscated by the state.

But it is not only the immovable and movable assets the state is gunning for.

Shares in businesses as well as salaries and director fees received by the Le Rouxs have been listed as realisable assets which Myburgh said needed to be attached to recoup money allegedly stolen.

These include shares held by Abraham in Tshangana Le Roux (Pty) Ltd, the R52,000 salary Le Roux receives from Videx Advisory (Pty) Ltd where the brothers are directors, shares held by Abraham in Furnix (Pty) Ltd, as well as property and rental received by Woodland Safari (Pty) Ltd where the brothers are directors.

“As directors, both [brothers] received a fee which constitutes realisable property.

“Any transfer of shares constitutes an affected gift.

“[The Le Rouxs] played a vital role in facilitating the illegal enterprise and benefited therefrom.

“[They] betrayed the trust of SA taxpayers,” Myburgh said.

In response, advocate Francois Van Zyl SC, on behalf of the Le Roux brothers, said the state had failed to prove, on a balance of probability, that the assets claimed were in fact gained through the alleged illegal enterprise.

“There are no such realisable assets,” Van Zyl said.

After lengthy arguments, Myburgh told the court he would file further papers tomorrow, with judgment in the matter reserved.

The criminal trial, meanwhile, continues on May 15.

The IPTS was initiated, in the short-term, to provide for the public transport needs of the 2010 Fifa World Cup and, in the longer term, to introduce a world-class service to Nelson Mandela Bay residents. By January 2015, the National Treasury had injected more than R2bn into the project.

According to court papers, between August 2013 and May 2015 the accused in the criminal matter allegedly colluded to line their pockets through a syndicate used to ensure the procurement processes of the metro were captured irregularly.

The state claims various entities, including the now-defunct companies registered in the names of Fakir, Wessels and Rukaard Abrahams, as well as Le Roux’s law firm, were used to facilitate racketeering and disguise criminal activities by distributing the proceeds of the crimes among each other.

Tshamase, Shaidi and Gerwel are accused of being integral in the appointment of Le Roux as a consultant, and Fakir, through his now-deregistered companies Heerkos, Jarami CC and Erastyle (Pty) Ltd, as the supplier.

It is alleged Fakir and Le Roux were instrumental in awarding contracts to Rukaard Abrahams’ now-deregistered company, Dankovista (Pty) Ltd, and Wessels’ deregistered Zaranza 299 (Pty) Ltd.

It is alleged Abrahams and Wessels acted as “professional launderers” by accepting payments from Fakir and from each other, partly for their own enrichment and partly for the distribution of money to other members of the alleged enterprise.

According to Myburgh, Le Roux Inc was irregularly appointed and benefited to the tune of about R32m.