Watch: Assets seized in 2010 World Cup accommodation corruption case

The assets of Durban businessman Thoshan Panday, his ex-wife Privisha, former provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Mmamonnye Ngobeni, and seven others were seized yesterday.

The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Asset Forfeiture Unit and the Investigating Directorate (ID) were granted a provisional restraint order of R165m against them in connection with corruption and fraud during the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup.

The bank accounts of all the parties have also been frozen.

The execution of the court order by the curator appointed by the high court took place yesterday morning in and around Durban.

The restraint order has been granted in terms of Chapter five of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act 121 of 1998 against property/assets of the nine persons charged and persons or entities they gave gifts to.

NPA ID spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka said the NPA, with this court order which was granted in March, was hard at work attempting to take the profits out of crime.

Background

Seboka said this restraint order was directly linked to the criminal case first enrolled by the investigating directorate and the state versus Madhoe and eight others in the Durban Magistrate’s Court in October 2021, which has since been transferred to the Durban High Court.

The NPA said the alleged criminal syndicate was accused of acting in common purpose to deprive SAPS of an amount of over R47.3m through acts of fraud, corruption, forgery, bribery, and money laundering before and during the Soccer World Cup (SWC).

The order of over R165m is the amount of the proceeds of unlawful activities received by the enterprise, and the individual parties in furtherance of the conspiracy and/or common purpose and/or the commissioning of the crimes.

The state’s allegations

The state alleges that three former SAPS officials failed to follow the prescripts of the Public Finance Management Act, by among other things, deliberately delaying applications for procurement authority from the national office for accommodation for the 2010 Soccer World Cup and deliberately not following up on invitations they had sent to existing service providers (who charged reasonable rates); thereby causing the need to procure accommodation for SAPS members for the 2010 World Cup on an urgent basis and at inflated rates, a mere couple of days before the event was due to start.

Their intentional delay in procuring accommodation well in advance of the 2010 SWC, led to an urgent deviation from normal procurement processes, which had to be processed in haste by the national office.

Goldcoast was awarded orders for accommodation for police members deployed within KZN during times of unrest from October 2009, at inflated rates. Goldcoast was awarded 80% of the accommodation order for the 2010 SWC and charged SAPS rates which were much higher than other service providers.

Panday is the sole member of Goldcoast Trading CC.

The other defendants whose assets have been restrained are Colonel Navin Madhoe, the former section head of acquisition in supply chain management (SCM) at the office of the provincial commissioner, Captain Ashwin Narainpershad, formerly of SCM KZN, Thoshan Panday and his family members Arvenda (mother), Privisha (ex-wife), Seevesh Maharaj (brother-in-law) and Kajal Ishwarkumar (sister) and Tasleem Rahiman (his professional assistant).

The five entities alleged to have been controlled by and associated with Panday, were paid over R47.3m by SAPS between October 2009 and August 2010 (Goldcoast R39 336 283, Valotone R3 515 704, Bravosat R2 079 469, Kaseev Traders R1 552 019 and Unite Mzansi R863 122).

NPA’s findings

According to the NPA, Panday misrepresented that Goldcoast had secured block bookings in 2008 for the 2010 SWC, which was false. Panday then had to place police members in venues, paid them a low rate and claimed inflated rates from SAPS.

In addition, Goldcoast and four other entities associated with him through family member ownership, received orders approved by Madhoe and Narainpershad for miscellaneous goods required by SAPS members for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, through fraud including cover quoting and forgery.

In the application to court, the NPA alleged that Panday was the mastermind of the criminal enterprise.

“By the end of 2009, he managed to get control of Public Order Policing Unit: Operational Response Service (ORS) deployment accommodation contracts with the help of Madhoe and Narainpershad in KZN SCM [by deceiving the official who usually did procurement for ORS members to be deployed].”