Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Trump tariffs could wreck South Africa’s vehicle manufacturing industry

      14 July 2025

      Legislative overhaul on the cards for South Africa’s ICT sector

      14 July 2025

      The 1940s visionary who imagined the Information Age

      14 July 2025

      Microsoft South Africa to get new MD as Lillian Barnard moves to regional role

      14 July 2025

      Zuckerberg used open source to scale AI – now the lock-in begins

      14 July 2025
    • World

      Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

      10 July 2025

      Bitcoin pushes higher into record territory

      10 July 2025

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025

      Grammarly acquires e-mail start-up Superhuman

      1 July 2025

      Apple considers ditching its own AI in Siri overhaul

      1 July 2025
    • In-depth

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | MVNX on the opportunities in South Africa’s booming MVNO market

      11 July 2025

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » IT services » EOH sues founder Asher Bohbot for R1.7-billion

    EOH sues founder Asher Bohbot for R1.7-billion

    By Duncan McLeod28 June 2021
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Asher Bohbot … the former EOH CEO is facing a R1.7-billion damages claim

    EOH Holdings is suing its co-founder and former CEO, Asher Bohbot, and its former chief financial officer, John King, for R1.7-billion in damages each. It is also pursuing several other former executives.

    TechCentral has learnt that EOH has filed civil claims against Bohbot and King in the high court in Johannesburg, seeking R1.66-billion from each of them for damages inflicted on the group due to their alleged failure to deal effectively with governance breaches and malfeasance that have decimated the IT services group’s share price and valuation, not to mention its reputation.

    Specifically, EOH is going after Bohbot and King on charges of delinquency, breach of fiduciary duties and breach of contract.

    Specifically, EOH is going after Bohbot and King on charges of delinquency, breach of fiduciary duties and breach of contract

    Bohbot and King aren’t the only two former executives EOH is pursuing for damages. It’s also going after its controversial former public sector head Jehan Mackay – for R1.5-billion. EOH is suing Mackay for a breach of fiduciary duties as well as for allegedly making payments to third parties for no work done. Mackay’s name featured prominently in evidence presented by law firm ENSafrica at the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture.

    EOH has also issued a summons against Ebrahim Laher, who served as head of EOH International, for an amount R1.58-billion. He faces claims of negligence and mismanagement.

    Civil suits against other individuals may follow as the process unfolds.

    Professional bodies

    Neither Bohbot nor King responded to WhatsApp messages on Monday seeking comment. TechCentral was unable to reach Mackay or Laher.

    At the same time, EOH is in the process of reporting former employees to professional industry bodies, including the Institute of Directors South Africa, the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission. This could affect their obligations to their current employers and result in their professional associations being terminated.

    The civil suits are the next step flowing from the investigative work done by ENSafrica into corruption in the group’s public sector contracts, a spokesman said. The civil litigation has been brought with the mandate of EOH’s board of directors.

    EOH instructed ENSafrica in 2019 to expand its investigation after TechCentral broke the news in February of that year that Microsoft had terminated its relationship with the local IT services group over a dodgy software licensing contract between EOH unit EOH Mthombo and the South African department of defence. The news sent EOH’s share price into a tailspin from which it still hasn’t recovered. A whistle-blower reported the matter to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which has since opened an investigation (though it’s not clear the probe is still active). The ENSafrica probe has since uncovered evidence of widespread wrongdoing at the group.

    EOH, said the spokesman, is pursuing its former top executives through civil proceedings to try to recover as much of the money as possible that was “siphoned out of the business and paid to enterprise development partners and third parties that performed no services whatsoever”. The legal action comes on top of likely criminal proceedings against implicated individuals, with EOH “collaborating” with the Special Investigating Unit to “take investigations further”.

    Companies being pursued in the civil proceedings including Clipper Financial Services, AM to PM Strategic, Ultimax Consulting, Alteram Municipal Solutions and Mfundi Mobile Networks, all of which are alleged to have received payments from EOH for no work done. Other defendants listed in the litigation include Patrick Monyeki (who engaged regularly with Mackay on public sector business); Michael Lautre, Pavel Ivanov and Mongezi Duma (individuals who were in control of the companies listed above).

    There is simply no way that what happened at EOH could have happened without these individuals being suspicious of what was going on

    According to EOH, all parties involved under what it calls “summons 1” are defending themselves and the matter is now in the pleadings stage of the process.

    A second set of legal action, grouped under “summons 2”, involves the suits against Bohbot and King, and is “aimed at holding executives responsible for gross misconduct and gross negligence”, the spokesman said.

    “It is an internally focused action against former executives of the business. The individuals we chose to focus on, because they were the most senior in the organisation at the time, are Asher Bohbot, John King and Jehan Mackay,” the spokesman said, adding that other names could still be added to the list.

    ‘Hold them liable’

    The former executives, the EOH spokesman said, agreed when they joined the group to comply with all its policies and procedures, stakeholder funding and JSE regulations, among other things. Their alleged failure to put in the necessary controls to address these problems resulted in EOH incurring significant financial damages.

    “There is simply no way that what happened at EOH could have happened without these individuals being suspicious of what was going on. They should have picked this up in board meetings, in the financials. We want to hold them liable for the negligence they showed while performing their duties,” the spokesman said.

    EOH has launched two separate applications against Bohbot, who co-founded the group and who is now believed to be living in Israel. The first is to have him declared a delinquent director, meaning he won’t be able to serve as a director in South Africa until he has been rehabilitated.

    John King … Sued for R1.7-billion

    The second claim against Bohbot is a damages claim for alleged breach of fiduciary responsibilities. “We talk of breach of contract (his service and performance contracts). He received performance bonuses, etc. We say he wasn’t entitled to those in the first place.”

    EOH reached the R1.7-billion damages claim figures against both Bohbot and King by estimating the reputational loss sustained by the group flowing from the negative press around corruption at the group as well as Microsoft’s partner termination decision.

    A summons was served on Bohbot about four weeks ago, while the summons on King is with the sheriff of the court.

    With other individuals, who were lower down the food chain but who didn’t benefit in a big way, those we will report to the professional bodies

    The spokesman said EOH is being careful about who it chooses to pursue so that it doesn’t squander shareholder resources on extensive litigation. Rather, it’s opted to go after the most senior figures who led the organisation at the time the malfeasance occurred.

    “With other individuals, who were lower down the food chain but who didn’t benefit in a big way, those we will report to the professional bodies. There is no value in spending millions to get summonses against them. If we report them to the regulator that regulates them … we will have discharged our responsibilities. We are trying to be consistent in our approach.”

    The civil claims are being instituted by Werksmans Attorneys. EOH specifically chose the law firm because of its experience in dealing with similar matters. – © 2021 NewsCentral Media

    Podcast: Stephen van Coller reflects on two tough years at EOH



    Alteram Municipal Solutions AM to PM Strategic Asher Bohbot Clipper Financial Services Ebrahim Laher ENSafrica EOH EOH Mthombo Jehan Mackay John King Mfundi Mobile Networks Michael Lautre Microsoft Mongezi Duma Patrick Monyeki Pavel Ivanov top Ultimax Consulting Werksmans
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleSars goes online only as Covid tightens its grip
    Next Article DG and Microsoft: Beating supply constraints with high-quality Surface devices

    Related Posts

    Microsoft South Africa to get new MD as Lillian Barnard moves to regional role

    14 July 2025

    AI gold rush propels Nvidia to record $4-trillion market cap

    9 July 2025

    Jony Ive’s first AI gadget could be … a pen

    30 June 2025
    Company News

    Banking on LEO: Q-KON transforms financial services connectivity

    14 July 2025

    The future of business calling: Voys brings your landline to the cloud

    14 July 2025

    How digital twins and AI are shaping the future of security

    14 July 2025
    Opinion

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.