Knorx Molelle. Picture: Bulelwa Makeke
Knorx Molelle, the former National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) director implicated in the alleged theft of R13.9 million from former Eskom executive and state capture suspect Anoj Singh, said he will cooperate with investigators over the criminal accusations levelled against him.
Molelle, who left the NPA’s Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) under a financial mismanagement cloud in March last year, was named in Singh’s affidavit which accused medical doctor Mahendren Munsamy of allegedly scamming him out of R13.9 million in an investment deal.
Singh’s affidavit was presented in court during the state’s opposition to a fresh bail application by Munsamy, who is facing separate fraud and money laundering charges for allegedly swindling R420 million from Sasol and First National Bank (FNB) in one matter, as well as allegedly stealing R7 million from businessman Ravesh Moodley in another.
At the Johannesburg specialised commercial crimes court on Tuesday, magistrate Emmanuel Magampa reserved judgment on Munsamy’s bail application for 24 March. The alleged fraudster has been in custody since his arrest in January last year.
In his affidavit, Singh said he paid R13.9 million in four tranches from August to October 2018 to Munsamy, who “misrepresented” to him that there was a business opportunity to import fuel from Mozambique into South Africa, and only paying duties to the South African Revenue Service (Sars) after 30 days and not immediately.
Singh further said that Munsamy, with the alleged stolen money, gave R2 million to Molelle “to assist him”.
“Munsamy did not elaborate what that meant. What is not in doubt is that Molelle benefitted R2 million from the money stolen from me,” Singh said.
This week, Molelle rejected the allegations against him, saying he had “never had any business dealings with Anoj Singh whatsoever”.
“I have never received or taken any money from him [Singh] either directly or indirectly. Should he be in possession of evidence that I had any dealings with him or took his money, he must please take it to the police for investigations,” Molelle told Mail & Guardian. “I will be too happy for the police to investigate the allegations and will give my full cooperation.”
During his testimony under cross-examination last week, Munsamy denied he had stolen money from Singh, FNB, Moodley and Sasol, adding that there was a conspiracy against him by the state and petroleum industry.
“You are being misled by Singh; there’s a subterfuge here. Don’t buy into the confirmation bias [that I’m a criminal]. The mere allegations being made here does not equal me having to stand trial,” Munsamy testified. “As it stands, [Singh’s] matter is unenrolled, and I’m cooperating with you to get to the truth, which you don’t have.” Munsamy acknowledged that he and Molelle were friends, but said he did not give the latter money. Munsamy returns to court on 24 March when he will find out whether his bail application is granted or not.