Directors of Joburg engineering company in court for R400 million tender fraud at Eskom and Sasol
Six directors of a Johannesburg based engineering company, NJM Heat Treatment & NDE Services (NJM), appeared at the Palm Ridge Magistrate Court on charges of fraud, theft, and money laundering.
Hawks spokesperson, Colonel Katlego Mogale, said the six suspects, Mark Douglas Smith,61, Alexander Elias Roditis, 45, Vanessa Chungu, 43, Raymond Crozier, 62, Guy Phillip Le Roux, 56, and Ronald James Hoy, 58, were all arrested on Thursday and released on R20,000 bail each.
Mogale said investigation revealed that the directors misrepresented themselves to Eskom by submitting fraudulent tenders for supply of goods and the also violated the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Act by fronting and falsely claiming to have a valid shareholders agreement.
“In October 2017, the directors knowingly submitted falsified financial records to Eskom to secure a tender, leading to fraudulent activities...
“Similar fraudulent activities were identified in their dealings with Sasol, resulting in the termination of NJM's services. The potential loss to both entities is estimated at over R400 million,” explained Mogale.
Mogale added that their matter was postponed to November 29 for disclosure of docket contents.
The malfeasance was exposed in September 2023 by a former director of NJM, Baleseng Zinyana when she took her partners to court after they refused to show her the company’s accounting records to conduct an audit.
Another former director who blew the whistle was Jack Madzivhandila, who was dismissed from the company in 2019 after expressing concerns regarding questionable practices.
He reported NJM to the BBBEE Commission of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as well as to Sasol.
sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za
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