Court orders R31m forfeiture in KZN land restitution fraud case

The order stems from a 2008 land claim submitted to the Department of Land Affairs as part of a land restitution programme. KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) has secured a R31 million forfeiture order from the Pietermaritzburg High Court in a long-running case involving a fraudulent land restitution claim that saw millions of rand intended for legitimate beneficiaries used to acquire property. The order stems from a 2008 land claim submitted to the Department of Land Affairs as part of a land restitution programme aimed at restoring rights lost through past racially discriminatory laws and practices. Land claims National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said the department received land claims from two trusts in June 2008. The claims were approved, and about R45 million was made available for the acquisition of land, portions of which were subsequently registered in the names of the trusts for the benefit of claimants. However, investigations later uncovered irregularities. “In October 2008, the Department together with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) interviewed 26 land claimants under the two trusts, and it was established that some of the claimants were fraudulent,” said Ramkisson-Kara. Fraud She said investigators also discovered that fraudulent documents had been submitted in support of the restitution applications. “It came to light that during the application for land restitution to the Department in June 2008, fraudulent supporting documentation purportedly from the Master of the High Court was submitted to the Department. “The Master confirmed that no documents were ever lodged or existed in the Master’s office for the trusts,” she said. The matter was referred to the AFU in 2013, which argued that the land acquired with the R45 million constituted the proceeds of unlawful activity. Preservation order A High Court preservation order was obtained in March 2016 in terms of Section 38 of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, preventing the disposal of the property while legal proceedings continued. “After lengthy opposition and court disputes, the Pietermaritzburg High Court issued a final forfeiture order for the land, which is currently appraised at R31 million, being the proceeds of unlawful activity,” Ramkisson-Kara said. She added that Advocate Sakhile P. Ngcobo of the AFU in KZN secured the order. The NPA welcomed the order as part of the AFU’s mandate to recover proceeds of unlawful activities.