Trillian Capital Partners CEO Eric Wood was quick to discredit a whistleblower who alleged his team had knowledge of #Nenegate before it unfolded and has denied all links with the Gupta family, but new details have emerged that lend weight to the whistleblower’s claims.
#Nenegate is a reference to the surprise switching of finance ministers in December – a reshuffle that knocked the rand’s value. Trillian chairman Tokyo Sexwale, who said he became associated with the company only after Nenegate, has promised an independent investigation into explosive allegations that Wood and others knew that finance ministers were about to be swapped.
Trillian has also denied all links with the Gupta family, which is at the centre of the worst financial scandal in decades and is associated with the family of President Jacob Zuma. Not waiting for Sexwale’s investigation, News24 investigative journalist Pieter-Louis Myburgh has been digging around, testing the allegations and denials – and previous claims of links between Trillian and the Guptas.
Myburgh has followed the shareholdings to come to the
inescapable conclusion that the Gupta family does indeed have links with
Trillian – through Salim Essa and his wife, Zeenat. How is Wood going
to wriggle out of this one? This type of journalism that shines a light
on corruption, dishonesty and disingenuity demonstrates why Zuma and his
associates are so keen to muzzle the media. – Jackie Cameron
Staff writer
A team of investigative journalists has published a report containing explosive allegations that link Eric Wood, the head of asset management and financial services company Trillian Capital Partners, to irregular financial transactions.
They allege that Wood helped entities linked to the Gupta and Zuma families to launder kickbacks from companies doing business with state-owned transport operator Transnet.
AmaBhungane, the not-for-profit Centre for Investigative Journalism, has tracked the flow of money, drawing on papers filed in the High Court in Johannesburg and piecing together links with earlier reports.
Reporting on its website, amaBhungane says it has been investigating a letterbox company called Homix, which has allegedly secreted away hundreds of millions; apparent kickbacks from companies doing business with Transnet.
There were signs all along that this had something to do with the Guptas, say the journalists, highlighting that some of the money flowed to a Hong Kong firm that shared an address with a Gupta lieutenant’s companies.
“Now, papers filed in the High Court in Johannesburg have provided direct evidence of Gupta involvement: after Homix was exposed, a seemingly round 10% of the first year’s fee on another big Transnet contract flowed to Gupta-owned TNA Media.
“The amount, R17,1 million, was allegedly laundered through two companies on the strength of a backdated contract and bogus invoices before arriving at TNA, which publishes The New Age,” says amaBhungane.
While the amaBhungane investigation focuses on the nuances of deals involving Neotel, it also puts the spotlight on Trillian Capital Partners – which ANC struggle veteran and businessman Tokyo Sexwale chairs. Trillian CEO Eric Wood is allegedly named in court papers as a key figure in helping to process kickbacks for Gupta entities.
Recently Sexwale ordered an investigation into allegations that Eric Wood knew about #Nenegate before it happened. #Nenegate is a reference to the surprise switching of finance minister in December last year, which resulted in rand volatility – and speculation that some players might have benefited from currency moves.
Des van Rooyen was replaced after being finance minister for only a weekend, with allegations surfacing later that another minister was also offered the job as finance minister – with the promise of R600m in exchange for doing the work of the Gupta family.
Many of these allegations are contained in a report compiled by former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela on the abuse of state funds and the manipulation of politicians for commercial interests.
Wood earlier strenuously denied any knowledge that finance ministers were about to be switched last year.
Eric Wood, Regiments, The New Age and Neotel
The amaBhungane investigation points to firm links between Wood and others in the Gupta sphere of influence.
After Homix was not able to process kickbacks, it appears that Regiments Capital – of which Eric Wood was a director before joining competing Trillian – stepped into the breach.
Says amaBhungane of a Regiments Capital battle that is playing out in court documents: Directors Litha Nyhonyha and Niven Pillay on the one hand, and Eric Wood on the other, fell out after Wood sided with the Guptas when a Gupta offer to buy Regiments fell through.
“Though Wood joined Essa in the competing Trillian Capital Partners this year, the two sides are still trying to have each other removed from Regiments’ board.”
In an affidavit filed last month, Nyhonya describes, and attaches, evidence he says was discovered after Wood left that shows that Wood “knowingly allowed Regiments to be used as a conduit for an entirely fictitious set of transactions” to launder money.