NPA denies rumours of arrest warrants being issued for Guptas‚ others

The National Prosecuting Authority has denied that any arrest warrants have been issued in relation to state capture.

During an exclusive interview with eNCA‚ the acting head of the Serious Commercial Crimes Unit (SCCU)‚ Advocate Malini Govender explained that warrants were only issued in special cases where the suspects were considered a flight risk or not likely to appear before court.

It was also revealed that the Asset Forfeiture Unit is working on at least 17 cases related to state capture and is seeking to recover around R50-billion‚ according to acting AFU head‚ Advocate Knorx Molele.

While neither could go into great detail of the ongoing cases‚ Govender emphasised that the cases were being given priority and extra resources had been provided to speed up the process.

Around 20 prosecutors were working on the investigation into state capture‚ of which there were eight legs she explained‚ seven of which stemmed from former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s State of Capture report.

The interview comes after revelations that the AFU had obtained preservation orders against global consultancy McKinsey and Gupta-linked Trillian Capital Partners for R1.6-billion for work done in relation to Eskom.

Molele was confident the funds would be recovered‚ possibly in the next few days‚ and indicated that McKinsey had indicated a willingness to pay back the money.

This is a developing story.