Explosive claims by Thoshan Panday against IDAC's investigation methods

Durban businessman Thoshan Panday is set to present serious allegations at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, claiming that the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) was engaged in “unorthodox” investigation methods to unlawfully target those under investigation.

Central to Panday’s claims is his assertion that senior investigator Brian Padayachee illegally intercepted his phone calls over a decade ago, which he believes raises serious doubts about the agency’s integrity and its mandate to combat corruption.

To support his assertions, Panday has also contacted the Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee, and indicated that he can provide crucial insight into the alleged corruption at the IDAC.

Through his lawyers, he documented the extent of what he deemed misconduct within the agency.

“We believe that our client has valuable input for your commission in its mandate and investigative process,” read the correspondence, which was sent to both the Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee and Madlanga Commission.

Panday faces legal challenges over his alleged contraventions of the country's tax legislation.

His legal woes initially began more than 15 years ago regarding the R47 million Soccer World Cup fraud and corruption case involving former KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Mmamonnye Ngobeni.

Two years ago, the NPA’s Asset forfeiture Unit (AFU) and Investigating Directorate (ID) seized luxury assets worth more than R165 million from him Panday in light of all the allegations he faced.

However, his affidavit to the Madlanga Commission details allegations against Padayachee stemming from an operation during his tenure in the KwaZulu-Natal Crime Intelligence Unit from 2010 to 2012.

He alleged that Padayachee, along with his team, carried out unlawful surveillance in violation of the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act of 2002 (RICA).

“I have established that the Crime Intelligence Unit, KwaZulu-Natal, did the same thing in my case,” Panday said in asserting that investigators misled judicial authorities to gain interception permissions based on incorrect information.

Panday revealed that phone numbers linked to high-profile individuals, including former National Commissioner of the SAPS General Bheki Cele, were improperly included in applications aimed at securing monitoring orders against unrelated suspects.

The issue of improper monitoring orders also came to the fore during the testimony of Cele, before the parliament's Ad Hoc Committee.

Cele claimed Padayachee utilised “underhanded tactics,” in suggesting that he was also targeted through similar surveillance efforts.

Panday asserted that the illegal practices extend far beyond his own case, implying that it was a systemic issue within the IDAC.

He revealed that prominent businessman Mandla Gcaba’s phone number and Dibbo Mzobe’s number were also tapped into using his case number, whereas they were not connected to his case.

“I recognised the cell phone number, 082 xxx, as the number of Mandla Gcaba, a prominent taxi owner and businessman in the KwaZulu Natal area. His number was on my contact list, and I had previously called him on this number.

"However, I have never used his cell phone number. It was false to allege, as the investigator did in his affidavit to the designated Judge, that I often communicated using this number.

"I do not know the further additional cell phone number 082 xxxxx but I am certain that I have never utilised this number and that there was no basis for the investigator to misrepresent (information) to the designated Judge, (and say) that I was utilising it.

"I laid a criminal complaint on March 13 against the investigator and his colleagues at Crime Intelligence, KwaZulu Natal, who were instrumental in obtaining the interception directions against me. In this complaint I requested that the ownership and origin of cell phone number 082xxxxxx be investigated.”

Panday said that he had also alerted the National Director of Public Prosecution (NDPP, Shamila Bathoi) via a written a letter to her, where he raised misconduct allegations happening at the IDAC.

In response to Panday's allegations, IDAC spokesperson Henry Mamothame firmly dismissed the businessman's claims as “being false” and “baseless”.

Mamothame maintained that Padayachee conducted himself respectfully and that the agency was not prepared to engage with the media over ongoing court proceedings.

The Mandlanga Commission's spokesperson, Jeremy Michael, said: "The Commission does not routinely comment on who will testify before it," said Michael.

Attempts to receive comments from both Gcaba and Mzobe, before publishing, were not successful.

DAILY NEWS