Businessman Gaston Savoi pleads guilty to fraud, corruption
Businessman Gaston Savoi has been sentenced after pleading guilty to fraud and corruption in the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
Savoi's case relates to inflated contracts for water purification and oxygen units for KwaZulu-Natal's Health and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs departments.
His company, Intaka Holdings' other projects were in the Northern Cape.
He's been sentenced to a further ten years, wholly suspended for five years.
KZN NPA spokesperson Natasha Kara says the court also made a confiscation order for R60 million.
"The court further ordered that he pays a sum of R15 million as a contribution to the costs arising from the curatorship in the Asset Forfeiture Restraint Application proceedings."
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The matter was wrapped up after a plea agreement.
"This plea and sentence agreement was used by the NPA to bring an end to this drawn-out matter which has been delayed due to numerous interlocutory applications by the accused over the years. The NPA considered many factors as part of its strategic case management approach, the most important being the accused agreeing to cooperate and assist the State in its further proceedings against other government officials,” says Kara.
In 2022, Savoi’s co-accused and KZN's former head of treasury, Sipho Shabalala, was sentenced to an effective 15 years imprisonment for his involvement in the case.
It's understood that he received over R1 million in kickbacks from Intaka holdings.
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