The state didn’t know how to respond to the humiliating courtroom defeat the NPA suffered in the first state capture trial, a fortnight after learning that Dubai had dismissed its extradition request for the fugitive Gupta brothers.
Answers: Justice Minister Ronald Lamola wants the national director of public prosecutions, Shamila Batohi, to explain why the Nulane case failed. courtroom defeat the National Prosecuting Authority suffered in the first state capture trial, a fortnight after learning that Dubai had dismissed its extradition request for the fugitive Gupta brothers.
But the Free State high court judge, Nompumelelo Gusha, found that the prosecution had failed to pass even the barest threshold to prove the charges against provincial officials, Iqbal Sharma, Gupta associate Ronica Ragavan and their company Islandsite Investment. Concerns about the case, and related charges in the Estina dairy farm scandal, were put to Batohi at the media briefing in July last year where she and Lamola confirmed that they had filed the formal request for the extradition of Atul and Rajesh Gupta.
Without proof that the money was stolen, it was then hard-pressed to sustain the charge of money-laundering in relation to the myriad transfers that followed between companies in the Gupta brothers’ business empire. The state successfully opposed bail on the basis that Sharma was a flight risk with a foreign passport and financial interests abroad. Its submissions were drafted with the help of private counsel, who was not kept on brief when Sharma appealed and secured bail set at R500 000.
As Cassim stood in court in June last year, it was plain that he had not been favoured with a full copy of the state’s reply to a request for further particulars filed by the Guptas’ attorneys on 24 May. The court could infer the collusion between state officials, Sharma, Ragavan, and Atul and Rajesh Gupta and their spouses to defraud the state and benefit companies in the family empire, the argument went.would continue over months, and sources have said Serunye’s repeated refusal to furnish Hellens with more comprehensive details pointed to a central flaw in the case, although the pre-trial court entertained this stance.
Faced with the defence’s objection, Serunye abandoned his bid to have the emails admitted as evidence. He did so despite having a legal opinion, written early in the process by esteemed advocates, who argued that it was possible and set out the applicable legal precedent. The accounts of Pragat and Islandsite were linked to the Absa Cash Focus account facility of Sahara Computers, of which Atul Gupta was the authorised system manager.
Retired Absa employee Linda Channing testified that the fact that Atul Gupta was the manager of the facility did not necessarily mean that he made or authorised every transaction. It may have been done by others who he had given access to the account. As for the swift transfer of funds between accounts in the Gupta stable, Ragavan testified that she served as the treasurer for these entities and would direct money to companies that were short on funding.
“They instruct that money goes from one bank account to the next, in one day, in about 10 minutes, the amount of money flows to about four different accounts. What possible legitimate business rationale can you present for doing that?” a lawyer familiar with the evidence asked. The court faulted the investigating officer for failing to authenticate the letter. But this was not dispositive of the case.
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