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Thoshan Panday faces multiple charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering. (Witness Media/Media24)
- Businessman Thoshan Panday was set to appear in the Durban Magistrate's Court on Wednesday but did not pitch owing to alleged ill-health.
- Despite a doctor's note being submitted, the magistrate presiding over the case ordered that the head of Westville Prison and the doctor believed to be treating Panday be subpoenaed.
- Panday is facing multiple charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering.
The magistrate presiding over businessman Thoshan Panday's corruption case has ordered that the head of Westville Prison and the doctor believed to be treating Panday be subpoenaed to account for his absence in court.
Panday, 52, was set to appear in the Durban Magistrate's Court on Wednesday but did not do so owing to alleged ill-health.
He is facing multiple charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering alongside eight other accused, including former KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Mmamonnye Ngobeni.
Investigating Directorate Against Corruption spokesperson Henry Mamothame said the head of Westville Prison did not inform the court that Panday would not be attending court proceedings.
"Despite a medical certificate being produced by his legal representative and handed into the record indicating that Panday is admitted in a private hospital in Durban, Magistrate S Zuma deemed it befitting for the head of the prison and the admitting doctor where he is allegedly kept for medical attention to be subpoenaed to account for his absence and for not informing the court and the State," said Mamothame.
READ | Thoshan Panday remains in custody after lying about travel plans in corruption case
The State alleges that Panday controlled several entities that received about R47 million from the South African Police Service (SAPS) due to a corrupt relationship with SAPS supply chain management division members.
These payments were made for services rendered before and during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
It is alleged that Panday and his co-accused defrauded the SAPS in relation to the temporary supply of accommodation for police officers during the World Cup.
Tax investigations conducted by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) revealed that Panday also made false declarations in the tax returns for entities belonging to him.
As a result, SARS was allegedly prejudiced in the amount of approximately R7.3 million.
On 9 September, the court dismissed Panday's bail application on account of him having contravened previous bail conditions.
The court found that Panday lied when he requested his passport, which he had handed over as part of his bail conditions. He claimed that he would travel to several European destinations in December 2022 and return to South Africa in January 2023. The court granted him permission for this application. However, Panday proceeded to travel to the US, which he did not have permission to do.
The State also alleges that, upon entering the US, Panday presented a passport which he had previously stated under oath in court proceedings had been lost, and which he had reported as lost to the Department of Home Affairs.
The matter was expected to be transferred to the Durban High Court but was postponed to 4 October due to Panday's absence.
Mamothame said the State requested a further detention warrant to be issued to extend the accused detention.
