By Thys Khiba
Bloemfontein – The Gupta family associate and business man Iqbal Sharma has been denied bail in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court.
This is after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) indicated that it would opposed bail.
Sharma and three others were arrested on the 3rd of June in the Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Free State provinces. While, Sharma is denied bail, the three were granted R10 000 bail each.
The three former Free State provincial heads of departments who were granted R10 000 bail each are Peter Thabethe (Agriculture, and Rural Development -FSDoARD, Limakatso Moorosi (FSDoA) and Seipati Dhlamini (FSDoA Chief Financial Officer).
The NPA Investigate Directorate (ID) informed the court that Sharma was a flight risk after he failed to disclose that he had transferred at least R264 459 241 to Issar Global.
While, the ID further informed the court Sharma’s South African assets account for 10% of his total assets.
It was also reported that Sharma made more than 100 flights to and from the airports in the UAE since 2010.
All the accused are expected to appear in Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on the 5th July.
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