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HomeNews UpdateGauteng appoints independent investigator to probe Deokaran allegations

Gauteng appoints independent investigator to probe Deokaran allegations

The Gauteng Government has finally announced it will appoint an independent forensic investigator to probe allegations relating to murdered Department of Health whistle-blower Babita Deokaran.

The announcement this week by Gauteng Premier David Makhura came on the back of News24 investigations showing that more than R800m in alleged corrupt and fraudulent contracts had been identified and escalated by Deokaran.

Makhura said his office was “finalising the process” of appointing an investigator to look into “allegations that have surfaced relating to the case”, reports News24.

“Labour matters relating to officials implicated in this matter have been referred to the head of the Department of Health, Gauteng, to deal with them as per the Public Service Act (PSA) and Public Finance Management Act (PFMA),” he said.

Makhura added that the provincial government was strengthening its control systems to prevent fraud and corruption, as well as improving its capacity to act on such allegations.

Meanwhile, the DA has called for the suspension of the Gauteng Health Department’s chief financial officer, and for the immediate suspension of Dr Ashley Mthunzi, the CEO of Tembisa Hospital.

The party says nearly three weeks since strong evidence was made public that Deokaran was scared for her life after spotting about R850m in possibly fraudulent payments by Tembisa Hospital, no action has been taken.

Last Friday, the party picketed outside the hospital, protesting against corruption and the lack of action by the Health Department. With no confirmation of investigations into the purchases made by the hospital, through suppliers with significantly inflated prices, or any suspensions by the department, the party has labelled the situation a cover-up, reports News24.

In the latest revelations, a young couple from Phoenix, north of Durban, was awarded Tembisa Hospital contracts worth nearly R30m in just a month. She was a part-time call centre agent and he a sound engineer. They were contracted to provide everything from ICU beds to ventilators, boosting their bank accounts by about R1m a day.

None of the companies named in their tenders existed, and they were just a thread in the mammoth network uncovered by Deokaran before her assassination.

Christine and Avikash Signarian each control five companies that saw a flurry of trade from the hospital, and 70 payments to businesses they “own” are among more than 1 000 “possibly fraudulent” transactions Deokaran flagged three weeks before her murder.

Her calls for investigations into the hospital’s buying patterns were and have been ignored and payments worth R850m have still not been fully examined.

A News24 investigation, drawing from thousands of Gauteng Department of Health emails, showed:

* The couple’s companies are part of a larger network of shell corporations that exist only on paper.

* Avikash Signarian has a close connection to Samendran Chin who also, through five companies – formed on the same day with fake addresses – scored contracts worth nearly R8m.

* Signarian and Chin were co-workers at the same company, Gresham Media in Johannesburg.

The Signarians and Chin illegally sold medical equipment, with the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) now launching an investigation into the Tembisa Hospital bonanza.

Avikash and Christine Signarian, both from Phoenix, north of Durban, previously worked at an Umhlanga call centre. They moved to Johannesburg and within two years of getting married, suddenly controlled an empire of companies with a direct line to the Tembisa Hospital supply chain management office.

At the 10 addresses from where these businesses supposedly operated, News24 could not find a single office or warehouse: none has official websites or social media pages. All correspondence was routed through Yahoo and Gmail addresses.

The registered address of Avigeez is a dilapidated, abandoned building in Nigel, that was formerly a grocery store.

The business address of Sadie Ada is a care home for mentally challenged adults in Krugersdorp.

Eagle-eyed Deokaran’s suspicions were alerted when she saw the tender documents, and she raised her concerns in an official report to Gauteng Health bosses.

“A search was conducted on the internet for some of the companies to whom payment was due for release and these companies could not be identified as legitimate.

“While this seems prevalent in Tembisa Hospital, there is a high possibility there are possible fraudulent transactions in other facilities as well,” Deokaran wrote.

Christine Signarian was appointed as director of her five companies on the same day. Within a year, she landed six contracts from the Heidelberg Hospital with a total value of nearly R74 000.

Shortly thereafter her boon came from Tembisa Hospital. In a month, 25 payments worth R10.85m were processed.

Avikash Signarian out-earned his wife, his companies netting payments totalling R17.31m from 39 transactions. According to key documents, R28.23m in payments out of Tembisa Hospital to companies controlled by the couple were all processed in the same period. On average, their fleet of firms netted R1m a day.

Most transactions came in between R480,000 and R499,000, just beneath the threshold of Tembisa Hospital CEO Ashley Mthunzi’s delegation of authority. It was this glut of payments – to a network of companies controlled by only a handful of people – that saw expenditure surge exponentially.

Of the 64 payments to the Signarians’ companies, all except one were processed after Mthunzi was appointed as acting and then permanent CEO. A price comparison of two contracts indicates that the value of medical equipment sold to the hospital was significantly inflated.

The quantity of the items supplied also raises flags. One of the companies, Tecucure, was contracted to provide 1,000 blood pressure cuffs to a hospital with a bed capacity of just 840.

With procurement beneath the threshold, Tembisa Hospital SCM staff could request three quotes for medical devices or goods. If prescripts were followed, the inflated payments to Tecucure and another company, Cale Callum, were the cheapest, pointing to the possibility of “cover quoting” or collusion among the bidding pool.

Sound connection

News24 confirmed Avikash Signarian and Samendran Chin were close colleagues and worked as sound engineers for Gresham Media. The collective value of contracts awarded to his companies, all formed on the same day with fake addresses, is R7.88m

In a statement, Gresham Media said:

“Our company has recently been made aware by News24 that Samendran Chin and Avikash Signarian own various companies in their personal capacity, none of which our company was aware of until 29 July 2022. We can confirm that they are both no longer employed by our company.”

It is understood that both resigned with immediate effect after Gresham was approached for comment.

Illicit trade

The sale or distribution of medical devices is strictly controlled and requires a licence from SAHPRA: state institutions are prohibited from trading with unlicensed agents. Falling foul of this could result in a criminal conviction and a prison term.

Documents obtained by News24 indicate that fraudulent companies sold the medical devices without SAHPRA licences:

Lifonet – Electrosurgical pens worth R492,000;
Tecucure – Electrosurgical pens worth R493,000;
Cale Callum – ICU beds worth R495,000;
Caspian Dante – ICU beds worth R494,000;
Cora Maia – Ventilators worth R496,000;
Cora Maia – Incubators with ventilation capacity worth R496,000;
Maeve Adeline – Breathing filters for ICU patients worth R493,000.

SAHPRA spokesperson Yuven Gounden said the 10 companies controlled by the Signarians have never applied for licences. He added that their investigation into Tembisa Hospital was under way.

Silence

The Signarians and Chin could not be contacted. Questions were put to Chin in writing via email, and letters were hand delivered to relatives of the couple in Phoenix. They did not respond.

Calvarine Sonmugasundrum, Christine Signarian’s mother, said her daughter was an honest woman.

“I think you have the wrong person… my daughter doesn’t have any companies… she doesn’t do anything like that,” she said.

News24 visited the backroom they rented at a modest home in Lotus Gardens outside Pretoria. Their former landlady said the couple left in haste in May.

“They left very suddenly… I didn’t even see them leave,” she said.

The timing of their departure coincides with the period in which News24 first approached Chin and posed questions about his business dealings.

Inaction

The Gauteng Department of Health initially did not respond to questions, and instead released a blanket statement that it would not provide a running commentary.

“As previously stated, the Gauteng Department of Health has noted with concern damning allegations coming from a series of stories published by News24 following your ongoing investigation into circumstances surrounding the death of former senior finance official Ms Babita Deokaran.

“The Department reiterates is stance that decisive action will be taken against employees found to have failed to discharge their responsibilities in line with the Public Finance Management Act and other applicable prescripts,” it reads.

Outrage

OUTA Accountability executive director Stefanie Fick said the Gauteng Health Department had failed Deokaran, and that promises to eradicate corruption were lip service.

“They are not serious in their efforts to eradicate corruption in the department… they failed to investigate her complaints properly and therefore failed to hold to account the culprits responsible for the illegal transactions,” she said.

On Makkura's announcement on Tuesday (16 August) of an investigation, DA spokesperson Jack Bloom said the probe was a “belated response".

“It has taken three weeks for the premier to react to the explosive revelation of the investigation that Babita feared for her life after she tried to stop 'possibly fraudulent' payments by the Tembisa Hospital,” he said

“Even more damning, why is a forensic investigation only being done a full year after she was murdered?”

Bloom said the “provincial government is notorious for long-running investigations which are never made public”.

“I suspect this investigation will be used to squash embarrassing questions in the legislature on the spurious grounds that they are sub judice. They will keep a lid on any information that shows senior ANC officials benefitted from the Tembisa Hospital payments,” he added.

Six alleged hitmen – who were arrested three days after Deokaran was gunned down – were indicted for her murder in the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg). A Hawks investigation to track down their paymaster remains open.

 

News24 article – SILENCED | Love me tender: How husband and wife bagged R30m in Tembisa Hospital contracts (Open access)

 

News24 article – WATCH | DA calls for the immediate suspension of Tembisa Hospital CEO (Open access)

 

News24 article – Independent investigator to probe claims relating to Babita Deokaran murder (Open access)

 

See more from MedicalBrief archives:

 

Uncovering the 200 suspicious Tembisa Hospital contracts flagged by Deokaran

 

Gauteng health boss ignored Deokaran’s plea for probe, claims acting HoD

 

Deafening silence on Tembisa Hospital payments scandal – Jack Bloom

 

The high price medical whistle-blowers have to pay

 

 

 

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