MONDAY, 3.30PM
ARMS manufacturer Denel on Monday confirmed the resignation of MD Johan Alberts. In a statement in Pretoria, the group said: “The Minister for Public Enterprises, Ms Stella Sigcau, has accepted Mr Alberts’s request to be relieved of his responsibilities at the Denel Group.”
Although the group did not give reasons for Alberts’s resignation, it comes in the wake of a forensic audit of Denel’s retirement fund ordered by Sigcau. It appears Alberts resigned three weeks ago, after the report on the forensic audit was handed to Sigcau. The Sunday Independent reported yesterday that the report, by auditors Ernst & Young, was handed to the Office for Serious Economic Offences, which is investigating claims of fraud totalling millions of rand.
Denel on Sunday denied knowledge of an Oseo investigation, and Oseo chief director on Monday said his office is not investigating Denel at present. “We were in April approached by an individual claiming he was aware of irregularities involving Denel’s pension fund. We asked him to convey his information to the auditors probing Denel, which he did,” Swanepoel said. “At the time, we asked the auditors to come back to us if they encounter offences such as fraud. We have not heard from the auditors since.”
The fraud allegations arise from claims that Denel executives paid themselves unauthorised bonuses totalling R5,6-million from the company’s retirement fund. A total of R25-million was allegedly irregularly transferred from Denel’s R200-million retirement fund.