Schabir Shaik has received a R5-million windfall from the state in terms of a "secret" agreement signed late in 2008 between his lawyer and the government.
In what is believed to be an unprecedented move, the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) has agreed to split the interest on Shaik's ill-gotten gains.
Shaik is serving a 15-year sentence for his corrupt relationship with Jacob Zuma.
The Star has also established that Zuma's ex-financial adviser has not given up his fight to get back the R34-million confiscated from him and his Nkobi group of companies.
It emerged in papers filed with the Durban High Court this week that Shaik has applied to President Kgalema Motlanthe for the "reprieve and remission of the confiscated amounts".
A decision on this is still pending, it is stated.
The Durban court papers reveal a settlement agreement signed by Shaik's lawyer, Reeves Parsee, and the NDPP, which settles a dispute over who is entitled to the interest on the seized R34-million that accrued while Shaik launched various court challenges to the confiscation order.
With about R14-million interest at stake, the row was headed to court.
But late in 2008, in terms of a negotiated settlement, made an order of court, the parties agreed to split the interest, giving Shaik R5-million in cash.
This was after the state deducted about R2-million that Shaik had been advanced to pay for his two unsuccessful legal bids to overturn the asset forfeiture order.
While the agreement was not stamped "confidential", one of its terms was that it was to be kept secret, with "no public announcements" without the prior written approval of the other party.
However, the agreement was attached to a report recently submitted to the court by Trevor White, the curator tasked by the court to administer and oversee the forfeiture to the state of about R34-million that Judge Hilary Squires found to be the profit from his corrupt relationship with Zuma.
The money has been gaining interest since January 2006 while Shaik unsuccessfully attempted to overturn the forfeiture order in both the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court.
In terms of the deal struck with the NDPP, Shaik agreed to pay the money back if his court attempts were unsuccessful.
In return for the cash to pay for lawyers, Shaik put up his CellSaf shares as security.
According to White's report, these shares have been given back to him, and the legal fees have been deducted from his half of the R14-million interest, leaving him with R5-million, which was paid into his attorney's account last month.
White said this left R41-million in the account, which would be paid into the criminal asset recovery account once his fees and costs had been approved and deducted.
The attached settlement agreement notes, however, that in the event of Shaik's application to the president succeeding entirely or partially, he reserved his right to reclaim the entire amount.
DA poses tough questions
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply concerned by newspaper reports indicating that a secret deal has been concluded to pay a sum of R5 million to convicted fraudster and Arms Deals conspirator Schabir Shaik. The DA believes that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) needs to make it expressly clear why such a deal was concluded, how it serves the interests of justice, why it was conducted in secrecy, and upon what basis the NPA decided to conclude a negotiated settlement rather than allow the matter to be determined in court.
We believe that the agreement, if these reports are accurate, is outrageous and makes a mockery out of our justice system. It seems patently obvious that if an initial sum is forfeited, then any subsequent earnings on that amount ought to be forfeited too.
It is worth bearing in mind, too, that the sum of money in question is interest accrued on transactions right at the heart of the Arms Deal controversy. The initial figure of approximately R34.5 million reportedly included:
* The R250 000 bribe paid by Thales into Shaik’s Kobitech account, disguised as a so-called “service provider agreement”, but ostensibly intended for Jacob Zuma.
* R21 million shares in African Defence Systems (ADS) - the company that won the tender to supply Arms Deal corvettes with information management systems.
* ADS dividends valued at R12.7m.
* R500 000 received by Nkobi Investments for the sale of its shares in Thint Holdings to Thales.
It is utterly unacceptable that Shaik should now be allowed to profit from allegedly corrupt transactions. The DA will pose parliamentary questions to the Minister of Justice on this matter at the first available opportunity.
0 comments:
Post a Comment