An auditor has alerted the taxman to alleged fraud at Goldrich Holdings, a mine operator whose chairman is already being personally sued following the collapse of Aurora Empowerment Systems.
Mahier Tayob, a forensic auditor working for Goldrich, alleged that fraudulent transactions and money laundering had occurred at Goldrich, in an affidavit dated March 10 filed in the North Gauteng High Court.
Goldrich chairman Thulani Ngubane and director Bonginkosi Mthethwa have denied the allegations.
Goldrich agreed to operate the 72-year-old Blyvooruitzicht gold mine, 100km south-west of Johannesburg, in January after it was put into liquidation last year. The liquidator is Harvard Corporate Recovery Services (HCRS).
Tayob, who said he was obliged by law to disclose his findings, filed his affidavit in response to an effort by HCRS to remove Goldrich from the mine because it had not made the site secure and started mining, said Leigh Roering, a director at HCRS.
“I discovered fraudulent transactions, which I have disclosed to the SA Revenue Service (Sars),” Tayob said in the affidavit.
He did not identify the individuals responsible for the transactions.
Sars spokesman Adrian Lackay declined to comment on whether Goldrich was under investigation, citing taxpayer confidentiality.
According to the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Goldrich is following the same path as Aurora, which allegedly stripped assets and fraudulently misrepresented its finances when it attempted to take over ageing mines belonging to Pamodzi Group in 2009.
NUM represents employees at Blyvooruitzicht who say they have not been paid since September last year.
“The same directors are in charge at Goldrich who were operating Aurora,” said Livhuwani Mammburu, a NUM spokesman. “They’re stripping Blyvoor of its assets in exactly the same way.”
Goldrich and Aurora have in common both a director, Ngubane, and a strategic adviser, Fazel Bhana.
Ngubane was a director of Aurora along with Khulubuse Zuma, a nephew of President Jacob Zuma, and Zondwa Mandela, a grandson of Nelson Mandela. The three men are being sued in their personal capacities for fraud and selling Pamodzi mining assets that they did not own at Aurora, which has since been liquidated. Bhana is also being sued as part of the Aurora case.
Ngubane said in an interview that the allegation of fraud was “ludicrous” and “definitely not true”. Mthethwa, who is not cited in the Aurora case, said there had been no fraud at Goldrich.
Bhana, who was a management adviser at Aurora, had handed in his resignation at Goldrich on March 12 after the company was put into business rescue proceedings, he said. Questions about fraud should be referred to the company’s current directors, he said.
David Swartz, a lawyer at Phillip Silver & Associates acting for Goldrich and Aurora, did not return calls requesting comment. Mandela and Zuma are not involved with Goldrich.
Goldrich was placed in business rescue proceedings on February 27, and Tayob was appointed to create a business plan to save the company.
Tayob said in an interview that he had alerted Sars to Goldrich’s transactions in compliance with the law.
Tayob said in an e-mail to Sars dated March 6, which is attached to the affidavit: “A substantial amount of cash transactions and money laundering appear to have been consummated on, and by this company.”
NUM said on March 12 that the situation at Blyvooruitzicht was deteriorating. Employees had not been fully paid, shafts were flooding and violence between groups of illegal miners and local residents was increasing.
Mthethwa said Goldrich had paid workers since February 7, when it took control of Blyvooruitzicht. The company was not liable for any payments before that date, and payment requests should be referred to HCRS, he said. – Bloomberg