Ex-Eskom Contractor Arrested In London On Graft Charges

The former head of a construction company contracted by South Africa's embattled power utility Eskom has been arrested in London on graft allegations, prosecutors said Friday

Johannesburg, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Apr, 2021 ) :The former head of a construction company contracted by South Africa's embattled power utility Eskom has been arrested in London on graft allegations, prosecutors said Friday.

Michael Lomas -- a British citizen and ex-board chairman of Tubular Construction -- was arrested on April 15 in connection with a 745 million rand ($51 million) corruption case involving the construction of a new power plant.

He appeared before London's Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday and granted �100,000 ($139,000) bail, South Africa's national prosecuting authority (NPA) said in a statement on Friday.

"The appearance means Lomas extradition to South Africa has begun in earnest in the United Kingdom," the statement added.

Lomas was indicted along with four other suspects -- two ex-Eskom executives and two businessmen -- who were arrested in South Africa in December 2019.

They have been charged with fraud, money laundering and corruption for allegedly taking kickbacks and inflating the cost of work carried out at Eskom's Kusile power plant.

The "escalation of the contract" exposed Eskom to payments of 1.4 billion rand ($98 million), the NPA said.

None of the accused have admitted to the charges, according to the NPA.

Lomas was in the United Kingdom at the time of his counterparts' arrest, prompting the NPA to apply for his extradition back to South Africa.

The matter is scheduled to return to court on May 20.

Eskom is one of South Africa's ailing state-owned companies, laden with debt and struggling to recover from years of alleged mismanagement.

The utility generates more than 90 percent of the country's power from mainly coal-fired plants that regularly break down, causing blackouts.

Kusile is one of two new power plants being built to help alleviate power cuts that are crippling Africa's most industrialised economy.

Their construction has been beset by faults and delays, adding to Eskom's ballooning debt.