Pretoria – Gauteng businessman Deon Pillay, accused of swindling the City of Johannesburg out of more than R7 million, was on Tuesday released on R50 000 bail.
Gauteng spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Phindi Mjonondwane said Pillay faces a raft of charges, including fraud, theft and Contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crimes Act.
“The sole director of Esizwe Technology, Pillay, was released on R50 00 bail by the Palmridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court earlier today,” Mjonondwane said.
“Pillay is charged with fraud, theft and Contravention of the Act. His company, Esizwe, was one of the accredited dealers of Mustek.
’’The core business of Mustek was sales and distribution of computers and electronic products via its network of approximately 6 000 accredited dealers.”
She said the City of Johannesburg was a client of Esizwe and paid for almost 600 desktop computers. Esizwe allegedly didn’t deliver the computers paid for.
“The City of Johannesburg (CoJ) was a client of Esizwe and the State alleges that CoJ paid an amount of R7 529 244 to Esizwe for 570 desktops that were never delivered to CoJ, resulting in the munipality suffering financial loss,” Mjonondwane said.
“The case was remanded to 5 October for the NPA to furnish the defence team with the contents of the docket.”
Last month, three Durban police officers were sentenced to three years’ imprisonment on charges of extortion, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) said.
Former Durban central K9 warrant officer Pradeep Masallia, 37, Durban Central Sergeant Abdul Rahim, 43, and Abdool Yameen Sadik, 37, appeared in the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court and were each sentenced to three years’ direct imprisonment on charges for extortion worth R50 million.
According to the Hawks, the trio introduced themselves as major-generals belonging to the Hawks, who were investigating a fraud case against a prominent businessman in Kyalami, Gauteng, in May last year.
The three also had an accomplice, former Durban central K9 Sergeant Bradley Matthews, 42.
According to the Hawks, the group demanded the businessman pay R50 million to avoid being arrested on alleged fraud charges.
The men also demanded access to the businessman’s banking details, from which they transferred almost R9.8 million into their personal banking accounts.
The Hawks said its serious corruption investigation unit was alerted to the incident and an intelligence investigation was immediately put in place.
Almost two months later, the investigation led officers to Durban, where the men were arrested and charged with extortion in July 2019.
According to court proceedings, the trio pleaded guilty and was sentenced.
African News Agency (ANA)