Former high-ranking police officer and associates to face pretrial for alleged multi-million rand fraud during 2010 World Cup
A pretrial date has been set for the case involving a former high-ranking police officer and several others accused of orchestrating a significant fraud and racketeering scheme during the 2010 World Cup in KwaZulu-Natal.
Among the accused are former provincial police commissioner General Mmamonnye Ngobeni, Colonel Navin Madhoe, former police captain Aswin Narainpershad, and businessman Toshan Panday. They are facing a total of 275 charges related to racketeering, fraud, corruption, money laundering, and forgery, allegedly committed between March 2009 and April 2010.
In addition to the primary accused, Panday’s relatives, including his mother Arevenda Panday, wife Privisha Panday, sister Kajal Ishwarkumar, brother-in-law Seveesh Maharaj Ishwarkumar, and personal assistant Tasleem Rahiman, are also facing charges. The Independent Directorate alleges that Panday’s relatives collaborated to defraud the South African Police Service (SAPS).
According to the Independent Directorate, five entities connected to Panday were paid a total of R47,346,597.52 by SAPS. These entities include Goldcoast, Valotone, Bravosat, Kaseev Traders, and Unite Mzansi.
ID spokesperson Harry Mamothame stated, “The policemen who are accused in this matter face accusations of colluding with Panday to receive contracts from the KZN police for an amount of over R47.3 million in fraudulent and irregular tender procedures.” Mamothame further noted that judgment on an application for disclosure of certain information is pending, with the state strongly opposing the application.