According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the arrests were made in the Free State, Gauteng and Mpumalanga on Wednesday morning. Spokesperson for the NPA's investigating directorate, Sindisiwe Seboka, says the multi-million rand case relates to the controversial Estina company and charges include fraud, corruption and money laundering. 

Details are very sketchy presently, however, a fifth arrest in the case is imminent. 

This comes as another Estina adjacent case was recently playing out in the Bloemfontein High Court. 

Two of the accused in that matter are facing 54 counts of fraud, theft, corruption, money laundering, and forgery, and were previously embroiled in the 2018 Estina Dairy Project criminal case. 

They are Seipati Sylvia Dlamini and Mbana Peter Thabethe – the former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and former Head of the Free State Department of Agriculture, respectively. 

The embattled officials stand accused of awarding a number of contracts at the department to Superior Quality Trading, also known as Rekgonne Community Projects, without following due processes. 

According to the NPA, Rekgonne Community Projects, where Lenah Mohapi is a director, did not attend any of the department’s compulsory tender briefing sessions for the projects they were awarded. The company also had a certificate of attendance even though they were not present at the compulsory briefings where these certificates were issued. 

Between 2012 and 2016, the department is said to have paid more than R244 million to the company. Mohapi allegedly paid money into Dlamini’s personal account and then fraudulently disguised the transfers as refunds from Telkom and “medical services”. 

Mohapi is also an accused in that matter. 

In April, assets worth R249 million belonging to the accused were seized by the NPA’s Asset Forfeiture Unit. They included a block flats in Bloemfontein.

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