Pretoria High Court Grants Restraint Order to Freeze Assets Worth R1.4 Billion of Kusile Fraud Case Accused

• The suspects in the Kusile Power Station fraud and corruption trial have been served with an order to freeze R1.4 billion in assets
• The Pretoria High Court issued an interim restraint order against several Eskom executives and contractors
• Multiple charges of money laundering, corruption and fraud totalling over R700 million have been levelled against the accused

PRETORIA - A provisional restraint order to freeze assets worth R1.4 billion has been granted by the South Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. The ruling is against Tubular Construction Projects CEO Antonio Trindade and his wife, who are suspected of defrauding Eskom at its Kusile Power Station.

The order include former Eskom executive France Hlakudi, his wife and family trust as well as businessman Maphoko Hudson Kgomoeswana and his spouse and family trust, according to The Citizen.

Read also

Hawks to probe R22m Lesseyton sports facility after public outcry

The High Court has not made the decision on whether the restraint order will also extend to former Eskom executive for group capital, Abram Masango.

According to News24, corruption, money laundering and racketeering are among the charges levelled against the accused individuals. Eskom top executives and contractors are believed to have laundered money through Babinatlou Business Services, a business run by Kgomoeswana.

Hlakudi is said to have used his status as an Eskom executive to sway negotiations in favour of certain contractors, who then made large payments to Babinatlou for his influence. Millions were paid into the business account and funded extravagant lifestyles of the beneficiaries such as Masango and Hlakudi.

The accused are said to have defrauded Eskom of R745 million. The trial will commence on 4 October.

Read also

Zweli Mkhize's wife, May, implicated in Digital Vibes scandal: "The theft continues"

Another accused in the case, Michael Lomas, is awaiting an extradition trial in the United Kingdom, which has been scheduled for 20 December, before he can stand trial for the allegations levelled against him.

Eskom quantifying an R841m loss at Kusile, says Pravin Gordhan

Briefly News previously reported that Pravin Gordhan recently revealed that Eskom is in the process of quantifying a loss of R841 million at its Kusile power station that came as a result of the project being halted in 2019 following allegations of fraud and money laundering against those involved with the tender process.

Concerned South Africans have a lot to say about the Kusile corruption scandal, yet so many appear to be at a loss of words for the amounts of money being thrown around while so many of them are poor. Read a few of their comments on the matter below:

Read also

Military Veterans incur R2 billion irregular expenditure bill: 'Cuba wastage adds up'

@CaptCapeTown asked:

"In the private sector, this project would have been stopped when the cost started exceeding 10%. Or at least seriously investigated. How in hell can a project go 3x the original budget? Where is the oversight? Where is the governance?"

@Ukuhlola1 asked:

"Eskom why did it take since 2018 to investigate this multi-million rand corruption scandal of the Eskom Wilge housing scheme? Why haven't you acted against Liviero Construction of Mike Teke, the SIU must urgently investigate this scandal."

Source: Briefly News