Officials at the Hawks and South African Revenue Service (Sars) seems to have kept exculpatory evidence relating to the highly questionable 2016 investigation into former minister of finance Pravin Gordhan under wraps. The scam backfired: Charges against Gordhan were withdrawn, […]
amaBhungane & Scorpio #GuptaLeaks: How Anoj Singh sang for his supper
Anoj Singh is in big trouble. Evidence in the #GuptaLeaks and elsewhere points to a criminal conspiracy to defraud South Africans of billions. Singh was a central and willing player as CFO at Transnet and then Eskom – while accepting […]
Scorpio: In court – the Guptas’ last-ditch attempt to keep their companies’ accounts with Bank of Baroda
The Pretoria High Court is set for a major showdown on Friday morning when 20 companies connected to the country’s most powerful family take on their lone banker to avoid commercial impotence. By JESSICA BEZUIDENHOUT for SCORPIO. ____________________________________________________________________________ The Bank […]
Scorpio & amaBhungane: How McKinsey and Trillian ripped R1.6bn from Eskom – and planned to take R7.8bn more
It is now well-established that global consultants McKinsey and their local Gupta-linked counterpart Trillian extracted R1.6-billion in fees for “turnaround” advice given to Eskom. In this investigation, the first in a series, we delve into an explosive report that says […]
KPMG: ‘Weak’ apology suggests company saw no evil, heard no evil – therefore did no evil
KPMG’s written apology to South Africa, if one can call it an apology, purports to be decisive. Their local CEO Trevor Hoole resigns along with seven executives in KPMG’s audit, risk and tax departments as a result of a “comprehensive […]
amaBhungane & Scorpio #GuptaLeaks: A third Gupta-Transnet ‘kickback’ contract unearthed
Just after President Jacob Zuma attended the BRICS summit in China earlier this month, City Press reported that the China Communication Construction Company was gearing up to close South African state contracts worth R70-billion, with no public tender. But CCCC’s […]
Scorpio: Trillian operation shrinks amid R1.6-billion letter of demand from Eskom
Staff numbers have dwindled from 80-odd in its heyday to just a handful of mainly support staff sparking concern of reduced commercial activity that could impact on the company’s ability to pay back Eskom. By Jessica Bezuidenhout for SCORPIO. __________________________________________________________________________ […]
Scorpio: Gordhan, Jonas in hush-hush tête-à-tête with KPMG’s international chief
Former finance minister Pravin Gordhan and his former deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, were locked in a meeting with KPMG International chair John Veihmeyer in Johannesburg on Thursday afternoon. After emerging from the meeting in the evening, Gordhan and Jonas released a […]
Hear no Evil, See no Evil: Tom Moyane welcomes Jonas Makwakwa back to SARS
There was nothing to see here – not when SARS head Tom Moyane attempted to smother a damning report by the Financial Intelligence Centre flagging mysterious payments to Chief Officer Jonas Makwakwa. Not even when Makwakwa and his girlfriend, Kelly-Ann […]