A British businessman who was a former contractor for South Africa’s ailing power utility Eskom has been extradited from Britain to face 65 counts of corruption.
Michael Lomas is accused of accepting bribes in contracts between his company Tubular Construction and Eskom for work at the Kusile power station, worth more than 1.4 billion rand ($80 million; £60 million).
“He allegedly falsified contracts. He was arrested previously, got bail and fled the country to the UK,” national police spokeswoman Brigadier Ethlenda Mathe told AFP.
He has not yet commented on the allegations against him.
Eskom is dogged by corruption allegations and is struggling to recover from years of mismanagement that left the country plagued by prolonged blackouts.
Mr Lomas landed at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo airport on Friday morning. He was in a wheelchair and accompanied by heavy police protection.
Ms Mathe told local news website News24 that a condition of the extradition was that a doctor must be present on the plane because of Mr Lomas’ poor health.
He appeared briefly at Kempton Park Magistrates’ Court before the case was adjourned.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) requested Mr Lomas’ extradition in 2022, but it was delayed as he filed multiple appeals, which were eventually dismissed.
He was charged along with 11 other alleged co-conspirators – including two senior Eskom executives and two other businessmen. He was arrested in 2019 and his case is ongoing in the Johannesburg High Court.
According to a statement from the NPA, Mr Lamos will be charged and prosecuted and his case will then be combined with those of other suspects.
Others have been charged with fraud, money laundering and corruption for allegedly inflating the cost of work carried out at the Kusile power station and accepting bribes.
According to AFP, it was intended to help alleviate South Africa’s severe power shortages, but the project has been plagued by delays and setbacks.
Mr Mathe said Mr Lomas was a “wanted fugitive” who would be handed over to the Hawks, the police unit that investigates economic crime, corruption and organised crime.
The Hawks have been working on the case since 2017, when an employee lodged a complaint about a tender.
