State prosecutor, Mvuseni Poonye, told Bloemfontein Magistrate Mbuyiselo Didi on Tuesday 15 June that Patel is not being deemed a flight risk by the state, despite him having life long residence status in India. Patel, who is represented by Advocate Kenny Oldwage and instructing attorney Lee Binneman, is accused number 6 of 17 in the 2011 Vrede dairy feasibility study criminal case. He is charged with fraud and money laundering. 

Oldwage echoes the state’s support for bail, adding that his client does have a bank account abroad from his time working in the United States, but he does not have easy access to it. And therefore does not have assets that would aid him fleeing the country whilst out on bail. Patel is said to have close ties to the community, employing 135 people in his Johannesburg business.

Despite all the parties being on the same page regarding bail, Oldwage initially opposed the recording of court proceedings, citing his client’s refusal to appear on television. Oldwage said he was not made aware of any application from the media to record proceedings of his client’s bail application. He, however, did not get his way and Magistrate Didi greenlit the application for television and radio recordings. A warrant for Patel’s arrest was issued on 2 June 2021 - the same day as his co-accused - but the Johannesburg businessman was in quarantine/self-isolating at the time. It’s not indicated if he had tested positive for Covid-19 or if he was identified as a contact. Irrespective of this, his matter was postponed.

On 28 October 2011, Patel reportedly signed a near R25 million fraudulent agreement on behalf of Nulane Investments - owned by Sharma - with the Free State Agriculture Department for a study that was meant to ascertain the feasibility of the Vrede Dairy Project under the "Mohoma Mobung" initiative. He is alleged to have also been the chief negotiator in getting Deloitte to conduct the same study for R1,5 million. This is despite Sharma’s company charging a near R25 million for the same job. Nulane Investments then subcontracted the work already carried out by Deloitte to Gateway Limited and paid them R19 million.

His appearance comes after the same courthouse denied his brother-in-law, Iqbal Sharma, bail due to his access to wealth and assets outside of the country that might enable him to flee. The government officials embroiled in the saga, include Peter Thabethe, Sylvia Dlamini, and Limakatso Moorosi, who have each been granted R10 000 bail.

It remains unknown if Sharma will appeal the denial of bail. His attorney, Shaheed Dollie, was mum when asked by OFM News if they had the intention to appeal Magistrate Estelle de Lange’s decision. In her judgment on bail, De Lange said last week Tuesday, that Sharma’s legal team, made up of instructing attorney, Dollie, and advocate Stephanus Johannes Coetzee, failed to prove that the business consultant’s release on bail would be in the interest of justice. 

The spokesperson for the NPA's investigating directorate, Sindisiwe Seboka, said, on the other hand, they are happy with the outcome. “This particular man has left the country between 2019 and 2021 over a hundred times to various countries across the world - in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Should he have fled, we would not know where to find him,” said Seboka. The NPA says they can now focus on the next step of the case.

Sharma has, in his affidavit, distanced himself from the running of Nulane Investments and said he was “not the controlling mind” of the company. The state said that this is an extraordinary contention to advance, given that he was the sole director and shareholder of Nulane Investments at all times. The company no longer exists.

OFM News