Former head of crime intelligence Richard Mdluli and his two co-accused pleaded not guilty at the start of their corruption trial in the Pretoria high court on Monday.
Investigating Directorate Against Corruption spokesperson Henry Mamothame said the trial started with the state’s first witness giving evidence on how the corruption had unfolded. The trial will continue until Friday.
Mdluli, former police supply chain manager Heine Barnard and former CFO Solomon Lazarus are facing charges of corruption, fraud and theft relating to the police’s secret slush fund while employed in crime intelligence between 2008 and 2012.
The charges relate to allegations of gross abuse of the police intelligence slush fund, from which Mdluli and his family are said to have benefited. They include:
- Payment for private trips to China and Singapore.
- Private use of a witness protection house in Boksburg and conversion of this property for his personal use.
- The leasing of Mdluli’s private town house at Gordon Villas in Gordons Bay as a safe house to the state.
- Using the monthly rental to pay his bond.
Other allegations are that Mdluli’s family members, without adequate qualifications or experience, were appointed in crime intelligence and provided with motor vehicles and cellphones.
TimesLIVE
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