Latest news with #Nulane
eNCA
2 days ago
- Business
- eNCA
NPA wins appeal in R25m Nulane fraud case
JOHANNESBURG - The National Prosecuting Authority has welcomed its successful appeal in the Nulane corruption case. An acting Judge discharged the accused in the R25-million fraud and money laundering trial in April 2023. The accused discharged in the section 174 application include Iqbal Sharma and his company, Nulane Investment. Several Free State officials and Ronica Ragavan, worked for Island-site Investment, owned by the Gupta family. This judgment paves the way for the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption to reinstate the case. Sharma, his brother-in-law, Dinesh Patel, and several others were accused of defrauding the Free State government. Nulane was appointed irregularly to conduct a feasibility study for a dairy farm NPA Welcomes the SCA Judgment Upholding IDAC's Appeal in Nulane Corruption Case — NPASouthAfrica (@NPA_Prosecutes) June 12, 2025
The Citizen
2 days ago
- Business
- The Citizen
SCA overturns Nulane accused's acquittal and orders a retrial
The Nulane scam case was one of two matters in which the state tried and failed to seek the extradition of Atul and Rajesh Gupta from the UAE. Limakatso Moorosi, Seipati Dlamini, Iqbal Sharma, Ronica Ragavan and Dinesh Patel appear at the Bloemfontein High Court on 23 January 2023. Picture: Gallo Images/Volksblad/Mlungisi Louw The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has overturned Bloemfontein Judge Nompumelelo Gusha's decision to summarily acquit all the accused in the R24.9 million Nulane Investments fraud, money laundering and corruption scam, saying she committed 'numerous errors of law'. SCA Judge Cagney John Musi handed down judgment on Thursday, saying the leave to appeal has been granted. 'It is ordered that the respondents may be retried for the same offences in respect of which they were acquitted by the Free State High Court on 21 April 2023, as if they had not previously been arraigned, tried and acquitted: provided that a different Judge shall preside over the trial'. Nulane scam The Nulane scam case was one of two matters in which the state tried and failed to seek the extradition of Atul and Rajesh Gupta from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The case is based on allegations that R24.9 million was paid to Nulane Investment – a company owned by Sharma – to conduct a feasibility study for the Free State province's flagship Mohoma Mobung project, which paved the way for the controversial Estina/Vrede dairy project. Nulane was contracted by the provincial government on the basis that it had unique skills to perform the work. The state alleged that Nulane, however, had no employees on its books and in fact subcontracted Deloitte to produce the report, for which Deloitte was paid R1.5 million. It's alleged that the only change made to the Deloitte report was to identify Paras Dairy as a suitable implementing partner for the development of a milk processing plant in Vrede. ALSO READ: SCA asked to dismiss state's appeal on Nulane case amid questions about witness's testimony Acquittal In April 2023, seven of the eight accused, including former Free State government officials Peter Thabethe and Seipati Dhlamini, along with Nulane Investments director and Gupta associate Iqbal Sharma, successfully applied to be discharged under section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) in the Free State High Court in Bloemfontein. High Court Acting Judge Nompumelelo Gusha also found former head of the Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Limakatso Moorosi, not guilty, and she was acquitted. Gusha, in her judgment, criticised the state's investigation and concluded that the testimony of the state's sole witness, Shadrack Cezula, who had been the acting supply chain manager at the Free State Department of Agriculture, was 'evasive'. She concluded that the state had failed to prove its case against the accused before the court. 'Errors of law' However, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) appealed the matter. The NPA's Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) maintained that Gusha erred on several key legal questions, which the SCA on Thursday concurred with. 'The High Court made numerous errors of law that resulted in the acquittal of the respondents. This is unfortunate, particularly in a case such as this, where it was prima facie established that scarce public funds were unlawfully extracted from the Department and channelled to the UAE, by fraud and the misuse of power. 'This subverted the aims of the Project to generate income through farming and alleviate poverty, undermines the functionality of democratic institutions, and endangers the rule of law. The trial in the High Court can be summed up in a single sentence: This was a failure of justice. Regrettably, this erodes public confidence in the criminal justice system.' Musi ruled. ALSO READ: Court hears how nearly R1 million was spent fixing welding at Estina Dairy Farm NPA welcomes judgment The NPA welcomed the SCA ruling, saying the judgment paves the way for IDAC to reinstate the case within a reasonable period. NPA spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga said the prosecution body remains resolute in its stance of effectively prosecuting and holding accountable those responsible for state capture-related corruption. 'Beyond this important case, IDAC has made significant progress in its efforts to ensure accountability for serious and complex corruption and related crimes stemming from the state capture era. 'It has enrolled 50 cases, declared 133 investigations and partnered with the Asset Forfeiture Unit to obtain freezing and preservation orders amounting to R14.3 billion with R8.2 billion in confiscation orders deposited to the Criminal Asset Recovery Account (CARA),' Mhaga said. Mhaga said convictions in complex corruption cases take time, and not just in South Africa. 'The NPA is making steady and important progress in this endeavour and will continue to execute its mandate without fear, favour or prejudice'. ALSO READ: NPA says it will reinstate Estina dairy farm case after it was struck off court roll
Daily Maverick
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Justice delayed, justice derailed — acting judge's ‘litany of errors' in Nulane case dealt blow to accountability
An acting judge's misunderstanding of the law has, for two long years, delayed accountability for alleged State Capture. The high court judge's pronouncements unfairly embarrassed the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and demoralised courageous prosecutors fighting to restore faith in South Africa's justice system. Thankfully the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has now set aside the Nulane judgment. Stingingly, the SCA found that 'the acquittal of the respondents was unfair to the prosecution and compromised the administration of justice'. Why is the Nulane case so important? In 2022, a mix of officials and businesspeople shuffled into a cold Bloemfontein dock, facing charges of orchestrating a R25-million fraud. With this, the NPA brought its first State Capture case to trial. Although R25-million was a pittance compared with what the Guptas would later purloin, Nulane was a dress rehearsal for the later schemes. The fraud itself appears glaringly obvious. In 2012, a Gupta-linked, foreign scrap metal company suddenly announced its intention to invest in an emerging farmers project in the Free State. Strangely, the foreign company insisted that a company it did not name must conduct a feasibility study first. Somehow, Nulane, owned by Iqbal Sharma, was appointed to that role. Evidence showed how Free State officials set about manipulating procurement processes to falsely and quickly appoint Nulane as a sole supplier. The feasibility study simply was outsourced to Deloitte for just R1.5-million. Nulane merely slapped its logo on the final report and sent invoices to the Department of Agriculture. The money went to Nulane and R19-million then ricocheted through various Gupta-controlled bank accounts before being siphoned off to Dubai. By the time the trial began, the Guptas had long fled South Africa. Smaller fish faced charges for PFMA breaches, fraud and money laundering. Despite evidence to the contrary, much of it common cause, the high court outright acquitted one of the accused and granted section 174 discharges to the rest. The high court declared that there was 'not an iota' of evidence to even answer. The acting judge excoriated both the prosecutors and police for presenting a 'lackadaisical' case. The documentary evidence amounted to 'zilch', the judge proclaimed. The investigation was a 'comedy of errors', a phrase the judge called 'the understatement of the millennia'. This insult warrants scrutiny. Did the acting judge mean that no investigations across thousands of years, from Meletus's inquiries into Socrates, were more incompetently conducted than Nulane? Or did she mean the singular noun millennium, thus restricting her comparison to all the other bad investigations since January 2000? Ironically, the high court's reasoning is now discredited on all these scores. The SCA judgment chronicles a litany of errors, misconceptions and misconstructions; some so basic as failing to apply the elements of fraud to the facts. As for the acting judge's finding that the documents proved 'zilch', the SCA found otherwise. The documents and money flows established a prima facie case of fraud and money laundering which the accused should have been called upon to answer. On 'zilch', the SCA remarked: 'The use of this colloquialism is unfortunate; it does not belong in a judgment.' Thank goodness the State appealed. The stakes were high not only because the acquittals were wrong but because the high court judgment undermined extradition efforts. The collapse of Nulane led to the Guptas walking free in Dubai. The judgment also destabilised case theories for prosecuting other State Capture crimes. The court's position on accomplice witnesses, best evidence, common purpose and section 174 discharges created ripple effects that reverberate today. It is heard tell that the high court's errors emboldened magistrates in Free State courts to discharge other financial crime suspects with alarming ease. When cases are lost, criticism of prosecutors is often merciless. Media outlets joined the chorus of social media condemnation. The otherwise astute investigative journalism platform amaBhungane released a video suggesting that Nulane prosecutors lacked sufficient skills for what should have been a slam-dunk case. Legal reporting guru Karyn Maughan proclaimed that the acting judge 'was absolutely justified in describing it as a comedy of errors'. Maughan said she would be 'absolutely amazed' if the State succeeded in its appeal application. It will be amazing to see an apology to the vilified prosecutors and SAPS investigator. The media's ridicule compounded what was an intensely demoralising experience for NPA advocates Witbooi and Serunye and SAPS investigator Lieutenant Colonel Mandla Mtolo. How they managed to persevere despite such unfair criticism is hard to imagine. Of course every prosecution can be improved. But it was the fact that the judge had 'closed her mind to the evidence adduced by the State' that really prevented the NPA from advancing the State's case, as the SCA noted. The NPA's resilience deserves praise. In this instance, the real issue lies not with prosecutors but with wiser case allocation. State Capture cases cannot be entrusted to judges susceptible to their own 'comedy of errors'. The NPA chief, advocate Shamila Batohi, has herself implored heads of court to appoint experienced judges to seminal matters. A similar hint rang out in Bloemfontein's quaintly dilapidated SCA courtroom B when State counsel, Nazeer Cassim SC, remarked that high-stakes cases should be assigned to judges capable of navigating complex legal terrain. It was acting SCA Justice Cagney Musi (also Free State Judge President) who assigned the Nulane case to the acting judge who so badly mishandled it. As Justice Musi pored over his division's work, he must have regretted his decision. Wayward acquittals are a danger. They imperil South Africa's fragile hope of salvaging itself from ruin. Without the credible prospect of prison, South Africa's kleptocracy will only expand until the justice system is nothing but a laughable, hollow threat. One can only but agree with the SCA's finding that the way the high court trial was conducted 'can be summed up in a single sentence: This was a failure of justice. Regrettably, this erodes public confidence in the criminal justice system.' This critique is not about singling out a judge any more than a judge singled out police and prosecutors. Rather, Nulane serves as a lesson in how mistaken opinions, judicial and public, can delay accountability and demoralise those tasked with wielding justice on society's behalf. Nulane also forces us to confront larger questions. 'How many other Nulane judgments are out there?' This is a troubling question. Much like the temperature this week, the standard of acting appointments has, by all accounts, been plummeting for some time. This phenomenon is so noticeable, it has crept into techniques of civil litigation. No matter how strong a party's case may be, many are induced to take a puny settlement rather than risk the potluck of the court roll. Yet this should not be so. High court trials carry huge social stakes. They're not a CCMA con-arb or housebreaking case. It's all very well to develop lawyers or magistrates by gifting them an acting stint. However, acting judges still need to be drawn from an intellectual and professional elite. A deep, nonracial strata of legal excellence exists in South Africa. Many inspired acting appointments are routinely made and these represent the breadth of legal talent in South Africa, so this is not a 'transformation' issue. The problem is the almost back-of-the-envelope selection of adjudicators we see sometimes. The 'proletarianisation' of the Bench is a threat to the state's legitimacy. The goals of inclusion and professional development must be tempered by a primary duty to select judges capable of deciding cases competently. This is the essence of the 'fair public hearing' promise the Constitution contains. It is especially hard for poor and already marginalised litigants to fix the damage made by learner-judges on appeal. As things stand though, NPA prosecutors have been vindicated by the SCA. Nulane also teaches judges and commentators alike to be less star-struck by defence counsel and their adamant speeches and charming tutelage. A careful examination of the record, not only snippets of the argument or judgment, will often reveal that less-flamboyant career prosecutors have indeed made out a case, at least to warrant the accused mounting a defence. Shakespeare's Hamlet lamented the law's delay and the insolence of office. Thankfully, the SCA has set matters right, for now. The NPA can do better but so can the judiciary. South Africa cannot afford further derailments in its pursuit of justice against the greedy stokers of our ruin. DM
Daily Maverick
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
NPA secures major State Capture win: Gupta associates and Free State officials face retrial
In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court of Appeal has overturned the 2023 acquittals of Gupta lieutenant Iqbal Sharma, Gupta-linked executive Ronica Ragavan, and senior Free State government officials in the R24.9m Nulane fraud case. The court found multiple legal errors in the original trial and ordered a retrial before a new judge. In a tough week, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has won a major State Capture milestone as a four-judge bench of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) on Thursday, 12 June 2025, ordered that a new judge hear the Nulane State Capture case after an initial acquittal. More than R280-million was squandered on the Vrede dairy case, which saw the Gupta family take over prime Free State land run by their henchmen from India, who then ran it into the ground as they knew little about agriculture and even less about dairy farming. This money was found to have been used to pay for the infamous Bollywood family wedding in Sun City in 2013. In April 2023, Acting Judge Nompumelelo Gusha threw out the case against Nulane's Iqbal Sharma, Ronica Ragavan (representing a Gupta company) and various Free State officials. 'The SCA judgment confirms our view that the acting judge (Nompumelelo Gusha) misdirected herself in applying the relevant principles with regard to the case and erred in her strong criticism of the prosecution team,' said the NPA. Andrea Johnson's Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) will reinstate the case, one of the first significant acts of State Capture by the Gupta family and their associate, former trade official Sharma. The Commission of Inquiry into State Capture heard that poor black farmers were deprived of up to R280-million in the Vrede dairy farm case. The Investigating Directorate Against Corruption charged Sharma, Ragavan (representing the Gupta company Islandsite Investment One Hundred and Eighty [Pty] Ltd), as well as Free State government officials, Mbana Peter Thabethe, Limakatso Moorosi, Seipati Silvia Dhlamini and Dinesh Patel (Sharma's brother-in-law). Thabethe, Moorosi and Dhlamini were senior Free State Agriculture and Land Reform Department officials. While Ace Magashule was premier at the time, he was not charged with this case but with other charges. Because of a separate judgment, the court ruled last week that the extradition of his secretary, Moroadi Cholota, was not legal, and his asbestos capture case has been pushed out to 2026. The SCA ruled that the high court made multiple errors of law, including those related to the doctrine of common purpose, evidence rules, and an incorrect interpretation of Section 204 of the Criminal Procedure Act, among others. The SCA said the accused may be retried on the exact charges before a different judge as if they had not been tried or acquitted. The Nulane accused face charges related to fraud, money laundering and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act with the first part of the contract. This was a scoping contract by Sharma's company Nulane, which paid R24.9-million. The State Capture commission heard that Sharma subcontracted this work to Deloitte for R1.5-million. In 2024, Daily Maverick reported here that the black farmers who had been deprived of their rights at the Vrede farm had received a R1,300 gift card and a 5kg meat hamper from the new farm owners, which has since reverted to state ownership. 'This judgment paves the way for the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption to reinstate the case within a reasonable period. The NPA remains resolute in its stance of effectively prosecuting and holding accountable those responsible for State Capture-related corruption,' said the NPA, which is under fire for slow progress. However, the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption has enrolled 50 State Capture cases and declared 133 investigations. It also works with the Asset Forfeiture Unit, run by Ouma Rabaji-Rasethaba, to obtain R14.3-billion worth of asset seizures through freezing and preservation orders. DM
