A charge sheet filed before the Regional Magistrate Court shows how a multimillion-pula government infrastructure tender landed former Member of Parliament Johane Luther-Tine Thiite, Zac Construction director Nicolas Zakhem and six other accused persons in the dock. They appeared before the court on Thursday over allegations of fraud, corruption, document forgery and money laundering involving the Central District Council.
The accused eight individuals and companies of offences linked to the Tutume Infrastructure Project, a government-funded tender awarded under the Economic Stimulus Programme. At the centre of the case is an alleged P272.3 million fraud, which prosecutors claim was secured through false representations about tender qualifications, forged documents and the ownership of the successful bidding company.
According to the charge sheet, Thiite, Thiite Rubble Screeners (Pty) Ltd, Zakhem and Zac Construction (Pty) Ltd allegedly acted together between September 2017 and August 2020 to obtain P272,378,310.96 from the Central District Council.
The prosecution alleges that the four accused falsely represented that references submitted in support of their bid were genuine, when they were allegedly forged and the companies had never performed the purported work for China State Construction & Engineering Corporation.
The prosecution alleges that the four accused falsely represented that references submitted in support of their bid were genuine, when they were allegedly forged and the companies had never performed the purported work for China State Construction & Engineering Corporation.
The charge sheet further alleges that a letter of intent purportedly issued by Banc ABC to provide a performance bond and advance payment guarantee was not authorised by the bank.
Prosecutors also allege that Thiite Rubble Screeners was presented as a citizen-owned company eligible for the tender, while it was allegedly fronting for Zac Construction, which was not citizen-owned and therefore did not qualify to bid.
The allegations, if proven, would raise serious questions about the integrity of the procurement process and the safeguards used to protect public funds. The case also centres on allegations that the government was overcharged by more than P5.2 million through an inflated interim payment certificate. According to the charge sheet, Thiite, Thiite Rubble Screeners, Zakhem, Zac Construction and Tumelo Johane Mbaiwa allegedly used a fraudulent device to inflate Interim Payment Certificate No. 6 in May 2018.
The certificate was allegedly increased from the actual payable amount of P8,733,442.66 to P14,009,666.20, resulting in an alleged financial prejudice of P5,276,223.54 to the government.
The prosecution further alleges that Mbaiwa, a resident engineer working on the project through Haas Consult RSA (Pty) Ltd, corruptly accepted P30,000 from Zakhem and Zac Construction as a reward for inflating the certificate. Zakhem and Zac Construction face a corresponding allegation of paying the money to secure the inflated payment.
The charge sheet also details alleged payments linked to the award and implementation of the tender.
Portia Tebogo Gilika, a manager associated with Haas Consult, is accused of corruptly accepting P100,000 from Zakhem and Zac Construction in September 2017 in return for favouring and recommending Thiite Rubble Screeners as the suitable tender candidate. Haas Consult RSA (Pty) Ltd is separately accused of corruptly accepting P250,000 from Thiite, Thiite Rubble Screeners and Zakhem in October 2017 as a reward for favourably evaluating and recommending the company for the tender.
The allegations place the conduct of those entrusted with evaluating bids and overseeing the project at the centre of the prosecution’s case. Kagiso Nthaga, who was employed at Banc ABC in its Corporate Investment section, faces a separate charge of making documents without authority.
The prosecution alleges that on or about January 30, 2017, Nthaga made and signed a false letter of intent for a performance bond and advance payment guarantee in favour of Thiite Rubble Screeners.
The prosecution alleges that on or about January 30, 2017, Nthaga made and signed a false letter of intent for a performance bond and advance payment guarantee in favour of Thiite Rubble Screeners.
He is accused of using the identity and name of fellow bank employee Gomolemo Tshelametsi, who was authorised to issue such documents, and forging the employee’s signature.
The prosecution alleges that the letter misled the Central District Council into believing it had been validly executed by Banc ABC. The charge sheet further accuses Thiite, Thiite Rubble Screeners, Zakhem and Zac Construction of money laundering in connection with funds allegedly derived from the tender.
One count concerns the alleged transfer of P6 million into a First Capital Bank account held by Zac Construction on September 22, 2017.
Another concerns an alleged transfer of P3.74 million into a Stanbic Bank account held by Khwee (Pty) Ltd on the same date. A further count relates to an alleged P1 million transfer into an account identified in the charge sheet as belonging to Zac Construction.
The prosecution alleges that these transactions involved proceeds of the offence of obtaining money by false pretences.
