Expensive: Eric Wood started Trillian, the company that has cost Eskom millions. (Paul Botes)
A court on Wednesday relaxed the bail conditions of Trillian director and Transnet fraud accused Eric Wood bail to allow him to travel to Spain and the United Kingdom to visit his family.
The Palm Ridge specialised commercial crimes court, where Wood has been indicted on fraud and corruption charges, overruled objections from the state and ordered that his British and South African passports be returned to him.
He will be allowed to travel between Saturday and 30 September and must within five days of his return surrender his passports again.
Wood, an associate of the Gupta brothers, was arrested in May on charges stemming from Transnet’s tainted tender to procure 1 064 locomotives and released on bail of R250 000.
In his application to have his bail terms relaxed temporarily, he said he had not seen his only daughter, who lives in the UK, since last year.
He said he had refrained from travelling while he was under investigation, but prior to his arrest, because he was advised that he could then be considered a flight risk.
“I wish to see my only child as I see very little of her,” he said, adding that he also wished to see his parents, who reside in Spain, as they are frail and unable to travel.
Wood argued that since he has thus far respected his bail conditions, he was not a flight risk.
“I displayed my bona fides to remain in South Africa and not to travel unless permitted to do so.”
He undertook to return to South Africa on 22 September after travelling first to London and then to Spain.
The Investigating Directorate of the National Prosecuting Authority countered that Wood posed a flight risk because he had no family in South Africa and had suffered reputational damage as a result of the findings of the Zondo commission on state capture.
“The accused would therefore benefit significantly from a fresh or new start somewhere out of the republic.”
It added that recent history, including the flight of Shepherd Bushiri and the Gupta family from South Africa, had shown that suspects facing serious charges “did not consider twice” to skip the country to evade these. Moreover, returning both Wood’s passports would make it difficult for the state to monitor his movements.
Wood’s lawyer dismissed the idea that he would abscond as frivolous, and said that he would suffer if he became a fugitive, noting that most of his assets were in South Africa.
Magistrate Brian Nemavhidi said Wood’s case could not be likened to that of Bushiri, who had fled the country despite the state holding his passports, and ventured that the porosity of South Africa’s borders meant other accused could do the same.
On Monday last week, former Transnet chief executive Brian Molefe and chief financial officer Anoj Singh were arrested, as well as former Regiments Capital directors Niven Pillay and Litha Nyhonyha, and joined in the locomotive fraud case.
The other accused are former Transnet executive Siyabonga Gama, chief financial officer Garry Pita, group treasurer Phetelo Ramosebudi, Trillian Asset Management director Daniel Roy, and Gupta associate Kuben Moodley. Regiments Capital and Trillian Capital were paid a fee in excess of R90-million for securing a R30-billion club loan for Transnet to purchase diesel and electric locomotives in 2015.
[/membership]