MBABANE– A former chief executive officer (CEO) in one of the public enterprises has been implicated in a litany of irregular practices which include bribery and nepotism.
This is contained in leaked documents which are believed to be part of a draft report that has been compiled by the Office of the Auditor General, Timothy Matsebula.
It has been alleged that the former CEO received a E1 million bribe from a businessman in exchange for a contract to supply a certain product to the parastatal.
The businessman’s company, it is alleged, was then appointed to distribute the product to the government company.
After being awarded the contract, it is alleged in the documents seen by this newspaper that he started paying some money to the former CEO. It is understood the payment was effected on a monthly basis.
The supplier, according to the documents, charged the parastatal around E20 million despite initially submitting a quotation of E10 million.
As a result, the supplier allegedly cashed in over E10 million without delivering any tangible asset or value to the parastatal.
The documents reveal that the former CEO allegedly had links with the supplier, resulting in alleged secret payments of large sums of money through his trust fund.
In return, the supplier, based on the contract, was reportedly paid E700 000 per month for no verifiable services.
The supplier was also allegedly awarded a success fee for raising funds from one of the pension schemes. This is despite the fact that those funds were understandably sourced through another company’s efforts.
“The above represents a deeply entrenched pattern of corruptions, cronyism and financial misconduct,” reads part of the documents.
The names of the former CEO and the parastatal have been withheld as the investigation is reportedly ongoing and the final report has not been made public.
It is highlighted that the alleged unlawful actions of the former CEO involved fabricated contract justifications, bribes through front companies and trust funds, abuse of public resources and collusion with third parties for personal gain.
It is also alleged that funds paid to a certain supplier were then directed to the former CEO via a trust fund and a company account registered in neighbouring South Africa.
The former CEO is alleged to have used a senior manager he had personally appointed to ensure that invoices for the supplier were fast-tracked and approved for payment despite the irregularities.
The documents state that the supplier allegedly acted as a conduit for illicit payments to the former CEO through layered invoicing and disguised as transactions.
When called for comment about the investigation, the Auditor General, Timothy Matsebula, confirmed that his office had been looking into the operations of the parastatal in question.
However, he said he was not privy to the contents of the leaked documents yet.
Full article available in our paper.
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