Tongaat Huletts R3.5bn fraud case delayed as State seeks fresh racketeering certificate - IOL

Tongaat Hulett fraud case postponed to March 2027 as State seeks racketeering certificate.

The fraud case involving seven accused linked to Tongaat Huletts has been postponed in the Durban High Court, with the State seeking time to apply for a fresh racketeering certificate.

The long-running R3.5 billion fraud case involving former Tongaat Hulett executives and other accused persons has been postponed to March next year.

Peter Staude, Murray Hector Munro, Michael Edward Deighton, Rory Edward Wilkinson, Kamasagrie Singh, Samantha Shukla and Gavin Dykes Kruger appeared in the Durban High Court on Thursday facing fraud charges amounting to approximately R3.5 billion.

The accused also face charges relating to contraventions of the Financial Markets Act, Companies Act and Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA).

National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said Kruger faces an additional charge of contravening the Auditing Professions Act.

The case centres on allegations relating to Tongaat Hulett Limited (THL), a company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and its subsidiary Tongaat Hulett Developments (THD).

THD was a KwaZulu-Natal-based property development company involved in facilitating investment in the region through land conversion activities.

A significant part of its business involved selling land to prospective developers, with the proceeds from those sales ultimately reflected as revenue in THL's consolidated annual financial statements.

According to the State's case, the accused allegedly acted in common purpose between March 2015 and September 2018 to misrepresent the revenue generated from land sales to THL, its employees, creditors and shareholders, among others.

It is alleged that sale agreements were backdated, resulting in the company's financial reports reflecting incorrect revenue and profits.

The State alleges that the misrepresentations also resulted in managers receiving substantial bonuses.

Ramkisson-Kara said the matter was before court for a pre-trial conference on Thursday.

However, the State requested a postponement to allow it to apply for a fresh racketeering certificate in respect of Kruger.

Ramkisson-Kara said the state informed the court that a panel had been arranged for the National Director of Public Prosecutions to hear the application between October 6 and 9, 2026.

The court subsequently postponed the matter to March 18, 2027, for a pre-trial conference.

All seven accused will remain out on bail. Their bail amount was set at R30 000 each.