Court grants final forfeiture order for 'Maumela syndicate' assets
The High Court in Johannesburg has granted the National Prosecuting Authority's application to finalise the forfeiture of assets belonging to the so-called 'Maumela syndicate.'
This decision follows a preservation order which was granted in August last year for a property valued at approximately R326 million.
NPA spokesperson, Kaizer Kganyago, said the seized assets include high-value real estate and luxury vehicles.
Kganyago said the investigation into this case was kick-started by a report from the whistleblower, Babita Deokaran, who was assassinated.
"Her report detailed suspected procurement irregularities within Tembisa Hospital's Supply Chain Management," said Kganyago.
He said the NPA's Asset Forfeiture Unit brought the application based on forensic investigations by a firm appointed to assist in the investigation into allegations of fraud and corruption that allegedly took place at Tembisa Hospital.
Kganyago added that the National Treasury's Specialised Audit Services Unit reviewed the hospital's Basic Accounting System payment data to identify all payments made to the companies identified by Deokaran as having benefited from the unlawful activities.
"It also conducted a review of the Tembisa Hospital's Central Supplier Database and the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission records of the implicated companies to verify the registration and directorships of the companies, to identify any additional related companies involved in the unlawful activities and to review payments made to those companies."
He said the review covered the period between April 2016 and August 2022.
"The review by the SAS confirmed the possible large-scale corruption reported by Deokaran."
Kganyago said the review found that 14 entities controlled by the 'Maumela syndicate' appeared to have benefited from hospital contracts in irregular and unlawful ways.
He added that these contracts were worth more than R400 million.
According to Kganyago, forensic investigations revealed multiple irregularities in the procurement process, including manipulation to favour the 'syndicate.'
He said that, in some cases, companies that supposedly submitted quotes in the bidding process denied having made any such submissions.
"In other instances, in cahoots with the syndicate, cover quoting companies were used to submit bids which always favoured the syndicate entities in the process."
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