Stephan Hofstatter
30 April 2009
Johannesburg — A SENIOR Land Bank official has been put on special leave pending the outcome of a police investigation into a R100m fund he managed.
Khutso Mosoma, the Land Bank's AgriBEE manager, confirmed yesterday he had been put on paid leave earlier this month so the investigation could continue.
He said he had been questioned by investigators but denied any wrongdoing. "That's why I have not been charged with anything," he said.
Land Bank CEO Phakamani Hadebe confirmed all AgriBEE transactions had been investigated by private detectives and some had been referred to the police's Serious Economic Offences unit.
The R100m AgriBEE fund was set up by the Department of Agriculture to support resettled black farmers, with R50m earmarked for equity and R50m for small enterprise development.
Payments were disbursed for specific projects from a special account in the Land Bank until they were frozen following a forensic review completed by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) last year.
The PwC report, obtained by Business Day, says Mosoma had been unable to provide full supporting documents to account for irregular disbursals.
These included four payments totalling R11m that did not match a schedule of projects approved by the Department of Agriculture.
Mosoma denied he had made any payments without the department's approval. He referred further queries to the Land Bank, which declined to respond to detailed questions.
"The Bank has taken the position not to pinpoint issues around individuals while the investigations are continuing," spokesman Musa Mchunu said yesterday.
The Department of Agriculture has consistently refused comment on details of the case, too.
Police spokesman Phuti Setati confirmed yesterday fraud charges linked to the AgriBEE fund were being investigated against "certain individuals". He declined to name them.
"We are making sure we have a watertight case before we make any arrests or take the case to court."
This month, Business Day reported that former Land Bank boss Phil Mohlahlane and close associate Dan Mofokeng, the former Gauteng housing MEC, were allegedly linked to property transactions paid for by the AgriBEE fund.
Records in Business Day's possession show the transactions included a R2m residential property in the luxury Six Fountains estate outside Pretoria and a R5,3m farm in Limpopo. The Six Fountains property is occupied by Mohlahlane and his wife, and registered in the name of Mofokeng's company, Nzhelele Resources Africa. The Limpopo farm belongs to Mofokeng's company Circle, Way Trading 167.
Mohlahlane was head of the black farmer support section in the Department of Agriculture and was acting Land Bank CEO when Mosoma released the AgriBEE funds.
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