Johannesburg – A court in the United Kingdom (UK) has ruled that fugitive businessman Michael Lomas must be brought back to South Africa to stand trial for his alleged role in the R745 million Eskom Kusile fraud.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Investigating Directorate said Friday that “through the aid of the Department of Justice and UK-based lawyers successfully argued for the extradition of UK fugitive, Michael Lomas”.
Commenting on the development, Sindisiwe Seboka, Investigating Directorate National Spokesperson, said: “The Westminster Magistrates Court based in London, UK issued a judgment yesterday (15 December 2022), that Lomas’ extradition is to be sent to the UK Secretary of State under UN Convention against Corruption 2003, section 87(3)”.
The matter was trialled on 13 and 14 October 2022, and further written submissions were received by the court on 28 October and 11 November 2022.
Investigating Director (ID) Advocate Andrea Johnson has hailed the two-year-long fight to get Lomas to stand trial in South Africa, in connection to the R745 million Eskom Kusile fraud.
“The legal process has been lengthy, and we are pleased with the judgment, Johnson said.
Lomas, who also faces corruption charges, was arrested on 15 April 2021 in London and granted hefty bail of £100 000 (R1.7 million in April 2021) and he further submitted an additional surety of £250,000 (about R4.3 million in April 2021).
His arrest at the time emanated from months of talks with the UK authorities about the fraud and corruption case, where Eskom paid R745m to Tubular Construction Projects.
This exposed the state-owned entity to R1.4 billion in costs as per the escalation of the contract.
Lomas has been indicted along with four other accused in South Africa who are expected back in the criminal matter at the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on 05 April 2023.
He was out of the country when his co-accused were arrested, and he has never cooperated with law enforcement to stand trial.
“The ID brought an extradition application through the UK central authorities to invoke the European Convention on Extradition of 1957, the UN Convention against Corruption 2003, to assist in bringing Lomas back into South Africa to account,” said Seboka.
Lomas has seven days to apply for an appeal or the extradition stands.
