Thoshan Panday, the controversial businessman who is already facing charges of corruption and is also linked to an alleged R60-million police accommodation tender fraud scam, was arrested again late on Tuesday afternoon on fresh, unrelated charges of attempted fraud.
Panday was arrested at his Umhlanga offices by members of the commercial crime component of the Hawks. He was taken to the Hawks head office and kept in custody overnight.
Also arrested late on Tuesday on the same charges was Captain Aswin Narainpershad, a policeman working in police supply-chain management who had previously been named in court papers in connection with the alleged tender fraud, which is still under investigation.
On Tuesday night, police Colonel Vish Naidoo declined to name those arrested but confirmed that two people had been detained for alleged involvement in attempting to defraud the state of between R15m and R21m.
“We expect them to appear in court at the earliest tomorrow (Wednesday), but it could be later than that,” he said.
The police will have to take them to court before the long weekend starts on Thursday afternoon, in terms of law which requires a person to appear in court within 48 hours of being arrested.
The Mercury understands that these charges are not related to the R60m investigation, nor the corruption charges Panday and former supply-chain management head Colonel Navin Madhoe are facing for allegedly attempting to bribe provincial Hawks head Major-General Johan Booysen.
This is not the first time Panday has been behind bars after being kept in custody on the corruption charge from September 24 last year to October 4 when he was granted bail of R100 000. Madhoe was released on bail of R40 000 at the same time.
Narainpershad has never been arrested before. But he was named as a suspect, along with Panday and Madhoe, in affidavits filed in the Durban High Court in an aborted application in which Panday attempted to stop the police from harassing him, and then in another application in which he attempted to stop police from accessing his bank accounts.
Judgment is still pending in the latter matter.
In both, the police laid bare details of their investigation, naming the suspects.
They claimed that contrary to procurement regulations – and to the benefit of Panday and his company Gold Coast Trading – Narainpershad only obtained one quote for travel and accommodation for police during the soccer World Cup.
This was then authorised and deemed “urgent” by Madhoe, although there was no real emergency.
These allegations are still being probed by forensic auditors and no arrests have been made.
The corruption case – in which Booysen was allegedly offered R2m to assist in souring the credibility of search warrants used against Panday – has now been transferred to the Durban High Court and a trial date will be set in May. - The Mercury