Court hears Tongaat Hulett fraud case ready to move to high court

The seven accused are ex-CEO Peter Staude, former CFO Murray Hector Munro, former MD Michael Edward Deighton, former finance section head Rory Edward Wilkinson, former legal executive Kamasagrie Singh, former finance executive Samantha Shukla, and Deloitte audit partner, Gavin Dykes Kruger.

They are accused of backdating land sale agreements between 2015 and 2018.  

As a result, the company declared inflated profits, which allegedly saw the suspects pocketing huge bonuses.

The group is also accused of contravening the Financial Markets Act, the Companies Act and Prevention of Organised Crime Act.

The State told the court the indictment was meant to be served on the seven accused on Monday. 

READ: Former Tongaat Hulett execs could face racketeering charges

But senior state prosecutor Andre Carlitz said they still needed clarity on the high court allocation from the judge president. 

The matter was postponed to the end of July for the indictment to be served and the matter to be transferred.

Defence attorneys for the accused told the court they had no issue with the postponement.

But they put it on record that they will challenge the racketeering charges the State plans to add. 

The National Director of Public Prosecutions has yet to make a decision on the application.