South African prosecutors are seeking the extradition of a British national who’s been implicated in a fraudulent deal with Eskom.
Michael Lomas appeared in the Westminister magistrates court on Thursday, was granted bail of £100 000 and submitted additional surety of £250 000, the National Prosecuting Authority’s investigating directorate said in an e-mailed statement. He’s due to return to court on 20 May.
Lomas’s arrest and court appearance emanated from months of talks with the UK authorities about a fraud and corruption case relating to Eskom’s payment of R745-million to Tubular Construction Projects, which worked on its new Kusile power plant, according to the directorate. An escalation clause in the contract exposed the utility to a R1.4-billion liability, it said.
Lomas has been indicted together with four suspects, including two former Eskom executives, who were arrested in December 2019 and are next due to appear in court on 1 June. The UK courts will decide whether Lomas has a case to answer in South Africa. — Reported by S’thembile Cele, (c) 2021 Bloomberg LP