Jürgen Kögl, the businessman reported on Friday to be one of former deputy president Jacob Zuma’s benefactors, is considering taking the matter to court, his lawyers said.
”Our client denies any wrongdoing whatsoever,” read a statement from Johannesburg law firm Cheadle, Thompson and Haysom.
Kögl, an ex-Namibian, is MD of the prominent empowerment company African Renaissance Holdings.
An affidavit by lead Scorpions investigator Johan du Plooy linked payments to Zuma by Kögl to the French defence company Thales (formerly Thomson CSF), it was reported on Friday.
”Our client is taking legal advice and is considering a range of legal options, including an application to the High Court,” Kögl’s lawyers said.
According to Du Plooy, the investigation revealed that up to 2001, Kögl’s asset-management company Cay Nominees paid R656 000 towards the bond on Zuma’s flat, read a report in the Mail & Guardian.
”Du Plooy alleges that, before the Shaik trial, Kögl resisted a summons to be questioned about the source of these funds and that Zuma was a client and the funds a loan.”
The M&G reported that bank statements obtained during the Shaik investigation confirmed that Zuma made no repayments to Kögl.
”But it is the source of the funds and Kögl’s possible connections that clearly fascinate the Scorpions,” the report read.
Meanwhile, the Afrikaans daily Beeld reported that according to Du Plooy’s affidavit, Kögl paid R600 000 to Standard Bank for Zuma’s mortgage the same day Schabir Shaik met Thales officials in Mauritius to set up ”so-called service supply agreements”.
Du Plooy’s statement was used to obtain court orders for the wide-ranging search-and-seizure operations carried out last week by the Scorpions.
The M&G reported that besides Shaik, Zuma’s benefactors include Durban tycoon Vivian Reddy and Mpumalanga businesswoman Nora Fakude-Nkuna. — Sapa