The Gupta brothers
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) wants the Supreme Court of Appeal to reverse the acquittal of five accused in the nearly R25 million Nulane Investments fraud and money laundering case.
The charges were dismissed by the Bloemfontein High Court in April 2023.
This comes after five of the six accused successfully applied for the charges to be dropped in terms of Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
According to Section 174, an accused person can bring an application against the State to be acquitted if the State fails to make its case.
Meanwhile, the sixth accused who did not apply for a discharge, former Free State agriculture head Limakatso Moorosi, was acquitted from the matter.
Acting Judge Nompumelelo Gusha slammed the State for its poor treatment of essential documents which were imperative for the case, which led the records to be found inadmissible.
Gusha said it was "an inescapable fact" that nearly R25 million left the fiscus, yet the state has failed to show what happened to that money.
“No evidence was proffered to this court with regards to when, why, and by whom the documents were altered,” The Citizen quoted Gusha at the time.
Meanwhile, Henry Mamothame, spokesperson for the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) said the state believes that the high court judge erred on the question of law in several areas, and they are hoping that the SCA will have a different ruling.
He added that the SCA bench cemented the correctness on their belief in the manner in which key legal issues were questioned.
"The state must ensure that justice is served and hopes that this appeal shows the people of the republic that state capture and corruption cannot go unpunished and where this seems a likely scenario then, it has to follow the legal recourse available," he said.
Mamothame explained that the charges stem from a contract worth R24.9 million awarded to Nulane Investments for conducting a feasibility study on a project initiated by the Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The SCA reserved the judgment.
sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za
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