Gupta aide Ronica Ragavan is the subject of an arrest warrant, stayed by the court, in connection with a R25m corruption case linked to the botched Estina dairy project in Vrede, Free State.
Ragavan was absent from court on Tuesday when Islandsite Investments was added to an ongoing corruption case launched by the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA’s) Investigative Directorate (ID). She cited medical reasons for the no-show.
The executive was previously CEO of the Guptas’ conglomerate, Oakbay Investments. Ragavan was an accused in the prosecuting authority’s first so-called state capture case following former president Jacob Zuma’s resignation in 2018.
After several months the NPA provisionally withdrew the matter, and has not since reinstated the charges against eight accused charged over alleged criminality in the Vrede dairy scam.
The project, officially meant to empower black farmers in the Free State in the dairy sector, was a racket. Shadow World Investigations co-founder Paul Holden analysed financial records about which he testified at the state capture inquiry in June.
Holden’s probe found Free State government funds were siphoned through a series of accounts to the benefit of the Gupta family.
In the current matter — which concerns an alleged swindle of a comparatively modest R25m for a feasibility study preceding the project’s launch — Ragavan has been included in her capacity as a co-director of Islandsite Investments.
According to the ID’s spokesperson, Sindisiwe Seboka, Islandsite Investments Pty Ltd is owned by the Gupta family and Ragavan was set to appear as a representative of the business. “A warrant for her arrest has been issued but stayed by the court,” she said.
Ragavan and six co-accused including former Transnet board member Iqbal Sharma, whose properties have been seized by authorities, are set to appear in court on October 8.
The remaining accused include Sharma’s brother-in-law, Dinesh Patel, in his capacity as a representative of Nulane Investments 204, which Sharma controlled. Former Free State government officials Peter Thabethe, Limakatso Moorosi and Seipati Dhlamini stand accused of crimes including violating the Public Finance Managment Act.
At issue is the Free State government’s R24.9m payment to Nulane over six months for a feasibility study ahead of the dairy project. Sharma’s company was paid to produce a report on the basis that his business, Nulane, was uniquely placed to provide insight. The work was outsourced to a third party for a fraction of the fee charged.
In July the head of the NPA’s ID, advocate Hermione Cronje, erroneously claimed global policing body Interpol issued red notices for four Gupta family members.
Cronje corrected the erroneous statement on July 6 reporting Interpol has issued four notice for individuals abroad wanted in connection with the ongoing case.
They are Ankit Jain, a former Nulane signatory for its Bank of Baroda account; Ravindra Nath, a director of Wone Management; and Ramesh Bhat and Jagdish Parekh, the directors of Pragat Investments.
Interpol issues red notices “for fugitives wanted either for prosecution or to serve a sentence” as detailed in a statement on the Interpol website.
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