Durban: The seven former Tongaat Huletts senior executives charged over R3.5 billion fraud made an appearance in the Durban Commercial Crimes Court Court on Monday morning.
The accused are Peter Staude, Murray Hector Munro, Michael Edward Deighton, Rory Edward Wilkinson, Kamasagrie Singh, Samantha Shukla and Gavin Dykes Kruger.
It is alleged that between March 2015 and September 2018, the accused acted in common purpose to misrepresent to THL, its employees, creditors, shareholders and more, that the revenue that was derived from land sales was the correct value, correctly reflected in the financial reports when, in fact, they had backdated sale agreements.
This allegedly resulted in incorrect profits being declared and the managers receiving huge bonuses.
In addition to the fraud charges, the seven also face charges of contravening the Financial Markets Act, the Companies Act and Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA).
Natasha Kara, the provincial spokesperson for the National Prosecutions Authority, said Kruger, who was a registered auditor and engagement partner at Deloitte and Touche, was also charged with contravention of the Auditing Professions Act.
She said the matter was adjourned to June 2 for the State to update the court on the application process for racketeering charges to be brought against the accused.
Their bail of R30 000 each was extended.
As part of their bail conditions, the accused were to surrender all passports and not apply for new travel documentation.
IOL