Ex-prisons boss Linda Mti to appear in court in Bosasa corruption case

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Pretoria - Former commissioner of correctional services Linda Mti is set to make an appearance at the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Thursday. According to reports, Mti was expected to hand himself over to police following a deal struck with his lawyers. Mti's appearance will follow that of former Bosasa officials Angelo Agrizzi and Andries van Tonder and former correctional services CFO Patrick Gillingham. The three made a short appearance at the same court on Wednesday and they were released on R20 000 bail. Their next appearance will be on March 27. They have been charged with fraud, corruption and money laundering linked to contracts that were awarded to Bosasa by the department of correctional services between 2004 and 2006.

The Hawks said the charges are linked to tenders that were awarded by the department of correctional services to Bosasa. The Hawks' investigation found that about R1.6 billion had been misappropriated in the procurement of services by the department of correctional services.

The accused had allegedly received bribes in form of cash, purchasing properties, purchasing cars and other assets. The suspects also received payments for overseas holidays.

Hawks spokesperson Brig Hangwani Mulaudzi said there were two indictments linked to the Bosasa investigation. Two other suspects also appeared at the Commercial Crimes Court for similar charges.

Bosasa, now known as African Global Operations, and its subsidiaries Sondolo IT and Phezulu Fencing have also been charged.

These arrests are said to be linked to a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report which found corruption at Bosasa.

The report remained in the hands of authorities for close to 10 years without any arrests being made besides the shocking findings.

Two weeks ago the state capture inquiry began hearing testimony from whistleblowers on wide-spread corruption at Bosasa.

Agrizzi and various other Bosasa employees took the stand and shared details of how government officials were bribed to enable Bosasa to score contracts with the department of correctional services.

Agrizzi told the inquiry how officials such as Mti and Gillingham were bribed with money and expensive gifts.

Mti and Gillingham also had their houses built by Bosasa. Gillingham had cars bought for him by Bosasa and for his wife and children.

Gillingham was allegedly paid over R100 000 a month and Mti R64 000 a month.

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