UK court rules Lomas ‘suicide risk’ no bar to extradition

Muhammad Amin

A UK court has dismissed businessman Michael Lomas’s attempts to delay his extradition to South Africa to face R745million worth of corruptions charges.
Lomas’s lawyers had argued he’s a suicide risk, but the court has decided after consultations with local authorities and the UK foreign minister, it is not enough reason to keep him in the UK.
The court’s decision Friday comes nearly two years after it had ruled Lomas should be extradited on condition he is not put in a setting where he would be vulnerable to other convicts.
Local authorities have agreed to place Lomas in a single cell in the Medium C section of Joburg’s “Sun City” Prison.
Lomas, who was arrested on 15 April in London, had never cooperated with law enforcement to stand trial, Investigative Directorate (ID) spokesman Sindisiwe Seboka said.
The ID brought an extradition application through the UK central authorities to invoke the European Convention on Extradition 1957 and the UN Convention against Corruption 2003 to assist in bringing Lomas back to South Africa to face corruption charges.

Lomas is the former board chairperson of Tubular Construction, a contractor to Eskom’s Kusile project in Mpumalanga that is accused of paying millions in bribes.

He is expected to join his co-accused in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court when the case resumes. The co-accused are former Eskom executives Abram Masango and France Hlakudi, businessman Maphoko Kgomoeswana and Tubular Construction CEO Antonio Trindade

The charge sheet include fraud, corruption, money laundering, offering unauthorised gratuities and receiving unauthorised gratuities in connection with Kusile.

Last year, the Specialised Investigating Unit (SIU) began investigating companies alleged to have received overpayments worth R4 billion during Kusile’s construction. It is alleged Masango, Hlakudi, Kgomoeswana and Trindade committed the offences between 2014 to 2017.

Masango and Hlakudi were accused of receiving a R30 million bribe each from Trindade and Lomas.

Kgomoeswana and his company, Babinatlou Business Services, are accused of facilitating the contractor’s bribes to the Eskom bosses.