It is the state’s case that the Free State Department of Agriculture paid R24.9 million to Nulane Investment, a company owned and controlled by Sharma, a known Gupta ally, for a fraudulent feasibility study for the Free State’s flagship Mohoma Mobung project – the genesis of the Estina scam.
That scam saw millions earmarked for the empowerment of poor black dairy farmers allegedly being siphoned into the Gupta network’s pockets – with R30million of that money alleged to have funded a lavish Gupta wedding at Sun City. Despite the fact that Nulane Investment had no staff, the department secured a deviation from procurement rules to appoint it to perform the study on the basis that it had “special skills”.
It then subcontracted Deloitte, at a cost of R1.5-million, to conduct the feasibility study.Nulane Investment subsequently changed the findings of the Deloitte-authored study to identify Paras – an Indian dairy farm allegedly linked to the Guptas – as the most suitable implementing partner for setting up a milk processing plant in Vrede, Free State. And the Estina Dairy Project scam was born, as part of what the NPA contends was a deliberately orchestrated fraud.
– Karyn Maughan
