On Friday, the Pretoria Regional Court convicted Yakub Ahmed Suleman Bhikhu and his company Homix of 81 counts of fraud, forgery, uttering, money laundering and contraventions of the Tax Administration Act.
Bhikhu had pleaded guilty to all the charges filed against him and his company, the National Prosecuting Authority Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) spokesperson Henry Mamothame said
“He was sentenced to 10 years’ direct imprisonment, of which five years was suspended for a period of five years, effectively compelling him to serve five years in prison. He was further ordered to reimburse an amount of R300 000 to Transnet, which he received as gratification.
“His company was sentenced to a fine of R500 000 which was suspended on condition that it does not commit a similar offence.”
Bhikhu and his company committed the crimes between 2012 and 2015, costing Transnet around R66 million in losses.
“The accused opened accounts at various banks and forex entities, on behalf of Homix, where at the time he was the sole director. Payments stemming from Transnet were then paid into these accounts and dispersed to various other persons and entities by making use of fraudulent paperwork to execute fraudulent imports and exports,” Mamothame said.
“In the process Sars, the SARB and various private entities and banks were defrauded to allow the export of currency, which was proved to be illegal.”
He said Bhikhu had been informed of the matter against him in about 2017.
“He then evaded arrest for six years until he was apprehended at the border while trying to enter Botswana. He has been in custody since his arrest and conviction,” Mamothame said.
Evidence presented during the Zondo Commission on State Capture, which was further investigated by the Idac and the police, was led during the trial.
Mamothame welcomed the verdict and the sentence of direct imprisonment.
“This collaborative effort lays the basis for the efforts put in place to crack the complex state capture cases and other fraud and corruption cases that Idac is responsible for,” he said.
