House of Cards: Hawks ready to arrest Paul O'Sullivan, again

Lawyers acting for investigator Paul O'Sullivan approached the Johannesburg High Court on Thursday seeking an urgent interdict preventing the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Shaun Abrahams, the Minister of Police, Nathi Nhleko, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Priority Crimes Litigation Unit Advocate JJ Mlotshwa and Gauteng Hawks Head Prince Mokotedi, from applying for a warrant of arrest for the investigator when he touches down at OR Tambo on Friday.

In the meantime, a J175 summons has been issued for O'Sullivan to appear in the Randburg court on 15 July on a new charge of fraud. O'Sullivan already faces other charges of extortion, intimidation, fraud, forgery and uttering along with former SAA CEO, Monwabisi Kalawe.

Darryl Furman, acting on behalf of O'Sullivan who is winging his way back to South Africa after attending one of his daughter's birthday celebrations in London, said that on 7 June his client had entered into a written agreement between Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Priority Crimes Litigation Unit Advocate JJ Mlotshwa and Gauteng Hawks Head Prince Mokotedi that he would not be arrested for any offence allegedly committed before the date of the agreement.

According to the agreement “the Accused shall not be arrested for any alleged offences committed by him before today (7 June 2016) and should the Police or the State wish to prosecute the Accused on any matter allegedly committed by him before 7 June 2016, the Accused shall be brought before court in terms of summons as is envisaged in the so-called J175 procedure."

On 11 July Advocate Mlotshwa wrote to Furman stating that he did not have any control over the allocation of dates for the J175 summons (a document which contains the charge sheet and ordering someone to appear in court on a particular date and time).

“Kindly also be advised that due to the seriousness of some of the allegations against your client, the issuing of warrants of arrest against him will be unavoidable despite our undertaking in the Section 26B matter,” wrote Mlotshwa.

The following day Mlotshwa wrote that “I cannot unfortunately make an undertaking that a warrant of arrest against the accused will not be applied for due to the seriousness of some of the allegations against him”.

But if anyone thinks that the threat of arrest will scare O'Sullivan into not returning to South Africa to face these various charges, they will be disappointed. The investigator said he had every intention of returning. Furman attached to the court application a copy of O'Sullivan's e-ticket confirming his return and that he should touch down at OR Tambo at 9 am on Friday. Furman said O'Sullivan is willing to appear in court after he had stepped off the plane.

O'Sullivan had appeared in the Kempton Park magistrate's court on 7 June for contravening section 26B of the SA Citizen's Act. This after his dramatic arrest at OR Tambo airport on 1 April as he accompanied two of his younger daughters back to the UK. O'Sullivan was frogmarched off the plane by a posse of Hawks officers and driven at high speed in a blue light convoy to Pretoria where he was interrogated by the Hawks.

The arrest and subsequent charge has made international headlines as it is the first time in the country's democratic history that a South African citizen has been arrested for contravening this section of the act. O'Sullivan possesses three legally issued passports.

The investigator has, however, said that his arrest is a witch hunt by the Hawks who are attempting to thwart several investigations he has launched into current and senior law enforcement officials, politicians, ministers as well as SAA chair Dudu Myeni.

This week O'Sullivan gave an interview to Alec Hogg of Biznews in which he set out his role in investigating corruption at SAA and the involvement of Chair Dudu Myeni. O'Sullivan revealed that he had written to Myeni in November 2014 and had told her that if she did not resign from the airline he would “expose her conduct”.

“In that email, I talked about the fact that private detectives had come to my offices to solicit my assistance in obtaining cellular phone records and bank records of three directors of South African Airways,” said O'Sullivan.

O'Sullivan said that the detective had been hired by the then a non-executive director of SAA, Lindiwe Nkosi-Thomas (who represented speaker Baleka Mbete in the Nkandla Con Court Matter) who had in turn been asked by Myeni to obtain bank and cellular phone records of then CEO of SAA Monwabisi Kalawe (who was later suspended).

This week SAA suspended treasurer Cynthia Stimpel shortly after she had objected to the carrier appointing the unknown BnP Capital to advise it on the restructuring of its R15 billion debt. SAA have denied that she was suspended because she questioned the deal. BnP capital, civil rights body OUTA has revealed, had had its license revoked by the Financial Services Board, stood to make a R256 million “success fee” on the deal.

O'Sullivan this week said he was “desperate to got to court” on the SAA matter as Myeni would then be required to give evidence.

“I’m telling you now: she will be exposed. When she comes to court, she will be exposed. She will be questioned on all her nefarious activity and the whole country will see that woman stripped bare. They will see what she is. She is nothing short of a criminal,” O'Sullivan said in the London interview.

Meanwhile O'Sullivan is heading home, ready for anything. DM

Photo: Paul O'Sullivan (Sally Shorkend)