Johannesburg - Suspended Crime Intelligence boss Richard Mdluli should not face charges of fraud and corruption because of lack of evidence. This is according to a confidential internal report penned by head of the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit Lawrence Mrwebi and handed to National Director of Public Prosecutions Mxolisi Nxasana.
“Despite the fact that we are unable to make any case against Mdluli, it appears that we are under compulsion to find something against him and ensure his prosecution based on that.
“I am afraid this may amount to acting unconstitutionally. However, the matter, in this regard, is in the hands of the National Director,. “Mrwebi says in the report, which was handed to Nxasana in July.
NPA spokesman Nathi Mncube refused to comment on Saturday.
Mdluli has been accused of employing family members and friends as intelligence operatives, and misusing police funding to buy luxury cars and go on a trip to China. He was charged in 2011, but the charges were later withdrawn.
A lobby group, Freedom Under Law (FUL), made an application to have the decision to withdraw the charges reviewed and set aside.
In the judgment in the FUL matter, Judge John Murphy criticised Mrwebi’s decision to withdraw fraud and corruption charges against Mdluli, saying it was illegal and irrational. But the report penned by Mrwebi states that, according to the latest “report of 23 June 2014, there is clearly no evidence against Mdluli to this point in time”.
Mrwebi said financial statements and audit reports did not find anything wrong with the slush fund.
“As I stated initially after analysis of the evidence in the matter, I came to the conclusion that there was no evidence linking Mdluli to the crime, and that the matter required further investigations.
“Further investigations, as confirmed by various reports, have… confirmed that my initial stance in the matter was correct, and that the withdrawal of the matter at that point in time was indeed justified.”
Mwrebi on Saturday questioned how the Sunday Independent got the report but confirmed its contents. He said the complaint against him based at the General Bar Council of SA “is nonsensical in the light of developments in the Mdluli matter”.
He said new developments clearly indicated there was no basis to charge him in the first place.
“Therefore, how can my decision to drop charges against him have been illegal? I have maintained a consistent position, though misinterpreted by Judge Murphy, that the case against Mdluli was defective, and that the matter was prematurely enrolled, as there was no evidence linking him to the crimes.”
Sunday Independent