Once once more, the previous National Police Commissioner Khomotso Phahlane returns to court for tender fraud allegations. This a complicated multimillion-rand tender fraud which entails firms which can be truly not certified service suppliers.
PHAHLANE AMONG TOP COPS INVOLVED IN MULTIMILLION-RAND TENDER
Phahlane is amongst six folks together with senior police officers who have been arrested on Tuesday for allegations of fraud, corruption and theft associated to a R54 million tender.
The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Investigative Directive arrested the six in numerous components of the nation. They appeared earlier than the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Wednesday.
Along with Phahlane, present Lieutenant Colonel Godfrey Mahwayi, Major General Maanda Obert Nemutandzhela, Major General Mankosana Agnes Makhele, and businessmen Inbanathan Kistiah and Avendra Naidoo.
They face numerous costs together with fraud, corruption, theft and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).
“The tenders were awarded to Brainwave Projects CC t/a I-View Integrated Systems, who have also been indicted,” stated ID spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka.
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ONE TENDER INVOLVES ‘COVER-QUOTING’ COMPANIES
On 21 December 2016, the police’s Crime Intelligence Division launched into what they claimed to be an emergency procurement of software program instruments or programs.
One of the software program was named RIPJAR. Its goal was to gather and monitor info on social media on the instigators of the #FeesMustFall scholar protests.
It was weird that the response to the protests was claimed to be an “emergency” because the protest began greater than a 12 months prior in October 2015, stated Seboka.
But the RIPJAR software program was truly purchased from an organization that isn’t concerned in software program engineering in any respect. Instead, it was a safety alarm and surveillance cameras firm, she stated.
“The owners of the so-called competing companies were friends, who in fact and in truth, were involved in cover quoting. The cover quote was supplied to Inbanathan Kistiah by the former husband of the sole director of a company called Perfect Source.”
Sindisiwe Seboka
Perfect Source was a human useful resource recruitment firm.
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POLICE PROCURE CELLPHONE ENCRYPTION SOFTWARE AS PHAHLANE FACES IPID PROBE
The different software program procured by the police was a cell communication encryption platform named Daedalus.
The goal of this software program was to encrypt voice calls made by the administration of the police. This was at a time when Phahlane was being investigated by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).
“He was being investigated for the ‘Blue Lights’ police tender and other irregular procurement that happened during his tenure.”
But Daedalus made it unimaginable for investigators to get name information from cellphone suppliers.
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HOW THE FRAUD AND CORRUPTION PLAYED OUT
The South African Police Service invited three potential suppliers. But one of many suppliers acknowledged that its citation was fraudulent as the corporate didn’t submit a citation.
Two different proposals for software program procurement instruments have been obtained on 21 December 2016.
One of them was for the RIPJAR software program, which one way or the other submitted two written value quotations.
The different was from I-View, which is presently charged. Another was the written value citation from the HR firm posing as an engineering firm, Perfect Source.
“The owner of this company was the ex-wife of Avendra Naidoo. However, Perfect-Source was in the process of being deregistered. Through investigations, it was revealed that Naidoo submitted the quote and not his wife.”
Sindisiwe Seboka
It is additional alleged that R33 million was paid to I-View and Daedalus was paid R21 million inside a brief house of time.
Daedalus was nonetheless procured for the only motive of encrypting calls and wiping out cellphone information and messages.
The awarding of this tender allegedly deviated from the conventional procurement processes because it was signed and processed on the identical day, with fee being made the day after approval of the contract.
The accused have been granted bail on Wednesday. They obtained bail of R5 000, R10 000, R50 000 and three of the accused have been launched on R20 000 bail every.
“The matter returns to court on the 7th December 2022,” Seboka stated.
