In the middle of March, as the coronavirus pandemic was shutting down the country, McKinsey & Co., the giant management consulting firm, saw opportunity.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has revealed in court papers that R595-million which was paid by Eskom to a Gupta-linked company in dodgy deals cannot be found in the company’s bank account.
These revelations are contained in the NPA’s forfeiture application against management consulting company McKinsey in the Pretoria High Court. The application is for the recovery of R1 -billion that was paid by Eskom to McKinsey in an illegal tender.
READ MORE: Eskom’s ties to Gupta-linked Trillian exposed
In the same court papers, the NPA says that the curator has been unable to find R595-million from the bank accounts of Gupta-linked company Trillian Capital, which was also paid as a partner to McKinsey.
In an affidavit filed by the NPA’s Asset Forfeiture Unit operational head Knorx Molelle says the unit seeks to recover R105-million which is currently in McKinsey’s Standard Bank account. The R105-million is part of the R1-billion which was illegally paid to McKinsey.
READ MORE: D-Day: Trillian and McKinsey must pay back R1.6-billion by Tuesday
McKinsey offered to pay back the money last year when it was found to have illegally benefited from Eskom deals together with Trillian Capital. This was after Eskom declared the master service agreement contract invalid and instituted a claim to recover the money from McKinsey and Trillian Capital.