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Storm brews around Chippy Shaik
18/03/2007 13:46 - (SA)
Johannesburg - The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) would not say on Sunday whether Shamin "Chippy" Shaik was being sought in connection with arms deal investigations.
"We've not made any public pronouncements on it," said NPA spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi.
"It's not an issue for the NPA at the moment."
Shaik was the head of procurement at the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) and is the brother of convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik. German authorities are currently investigating allegations that Chippy Shaik was paid a R21m bribe by German arms manufacturer ThyssenKrupp to secure contracts with the SANDF.
The Sunday Times reported that Shaik could not be found and was rumoured to be trying to flee the country for Australia, although his family denied this. The newspaper reported that he holds several passports.
On Sunday, the Democratic Alliance (DA) questioned how many passports Shaik held.
"The Democratic Alliance will this week submit parliamentary questions to the department of home affairs to establish how many passports they have issued to Chippy Shaik," said DA MP Eddie Trent.
"If these rumours are indeed true and Mr Shaik has fled the country, it raises even more questions about his alleged involvement in the arms deal and makes it all the more necessary that those authorities investigating this matter do so with the greatest urgency."
On Thursday, NPA head Vusi Pikoli, Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana and auditor-general Terence Nombembe met to discuss the possibility of a joint investigation into the new allegations of corruption around the multi-billion rand arms deal.
Mushwana's office said the allegations would not be jointly investigated by the three state agencies but would be dealt with separately in terms of each institution's mandate.
- SAPA
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