A Cape Town businessman and company director has been sentenced on charges of theft and perjury in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Bellville.
Also read: Western Cape man held for lying about being robbed of R10 000
The businessman, 47-year-old Ridwaan Rajah, was convicted on the charges against him in April.
This comes after the Department of Public Works awarded a contract to Good Hope Plasterers CC, trading as Good Hope Construction, to do internal and external renovations to the Parliamentary Precinct in Cape Town in 2010.
The 47-year-old represented Good Hope Construction.
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According to IOL, Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Siyabulela Vukubi said that after the work was certified to be completed, the department rejected his proposed final account amounting to R10.8 million.
‘He instituted a notice of motion application in the Western Cape High Court against the Department of Public Works seeking an order to include the amount of over R500,000 in the final account,’ said Vukubi.
‘In his founding affidavit in support of the aforesaid application, the accused misrepresented and stated that the full amount of R500,000 was in respect of an advance payment made to the sub-contractor, namely Winlite Aluminium and Doors (Pty) Ltd.’
‘He deliberately put incorrect figures pertaining to the contract value of his sub-contractor in his founding affidavit. The order was granted and the Department of Public Works paid the said amount into the account of Good Hope Plasterers cc which belongs to Rajah, in order to adhere to the court order.’
‘It was later discovered that the accused did not pay the full amount over to the sub-contractor, which he never disclosed in the notice of motion proceedings, but withheld an amount of R51,903,’ Vukubi said.
As of 2019, the investigation was being conducted by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team.
Rajah was subsequently given two sentences: a six-year sentence for theft with a five-year full suspension and a 12-month sentence for perjury with a five-year full suspension.
His business, Good Hope Plasterers CC, was fined R200 000 for theft, with the penalty completely suspended for five years.
Rajah will not go to jail and the company will not have to pay the fine if the sentences are suspended as long as he does not commit the same crimes during that time.
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Also read:
Cape Town businessman found guilty of theft and perjury gets bail
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