Businessman Thoshan Panday walked out of court a free man after a second set of charges against him was withdrawn.
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Businessman Thoshan Panday walked scot-free from the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday after charges of corruption and conspiracy to commit fraud were provisionally withdrawn.
Although still under investigation for an alleged R60 million police accommodation tender scam, Panday no longer faces any criminal charges in spite of being arrested twice in connection with allegations of bribery and corruption.
Earlier this year, the provincial prosecutions boss, advocate Moipone Noko, instructed that charges against him and supply chain unit policeman Navin Madhoe, involving an alleged attempt to bribe KZN Hawks head Johan Booysen with R2m, be provisionally withdrawn.
She said that while there was a prosecutable case, she had concerns “regarding justice”, based on representations which Panday had made and which needed further investigation.
NPA spokeswoman Natasha Ramkisson told The Mercury on Tuesday that Noko still had not made a final decision in this matter.
On Tuesday, Panday and another supply chain policeman, Captain Aswin Narainpershad, appeared before Durban Regional Court magistrate Nanette Otto at what was to be the start of their trial in which they are charged with allegedly offering R1m to Captain Kevin Stephen to help them generate false invoices worth R15m for submission to the SAPS.
But State advocate Dorian Paver said the State could not proceed “because of problems regarding the preparation of evidence”.
He said the charges would be provisionally withdrawn and the magistrate recorded that they would be reinstated only if and when the investigations were concluded.
In response to a question from The Mercury, Ramkisson said Panday had not made any representations about these charges and the reason for the provisional withdrawal was “as stated in court by Paver”.
Auditors are still probing the alleged R60m tender scam, and a decision will be made about possible prosecutions once the report is finalised.
The Mercury
