Mega
international
firm
Dentons
is
facing
a
public
corruption
investigation
in
South
Africa.
Officials
there
are
looking
into
the
massive
fraud
under
former
President
Jacob
Zuma
and
his
associates,
the
Gupta
brothers.
The
Guptas
are
wanted
for
a
practice
of
“state
capture,”
using
their
network
of
family
businesses
to
get
public
contracts
through
their
relationship
with
Zuma.
South
Africa’s
Judicial
Inquiry
into
the
corruption,
the
Zondo
Report,
notes
payments
made
to
Gupta-controlled
companies
in
connection
with
the
firm’s
work
on
behalf
of
state
energy
company
Eskom.
As
reported
by
RollOnFriday:
Explaining
how
the
payments
came
to
be
made,
Dentons
Africa
CEO
Noor
Kapdi
testified
that
Rafique
Bagus,
a
client,
agreed
to
‘advertise’
Dentons
to
the
public
sector
(a
claim
Bagus
disputes).The
alleged
arrangement
blossomed
when
Dentons
was
appointed
by
Eskom
to
undertake
a
forensic
investigation
into
allegations
of
internal
corruption
in
2015.Kapdi
testified
that
when
he
contacted
Bagus
to
thank
him
and
organise
remuneration,
Bagus
told
the
partner
he
didn’t
need
to
be
rewarded
–
but
that
a
third
party
would
be
in
touch.Kapdi
was
subsequently
contacted
by
Gupta
henchman
Ashok
Narayan,
who
directed
him
to
pay
Fortime
Consultants.
Unfortunately
for
Dentons,
Fortime
was
the
“laundering
vehicle
used
by
the
Gupta
Enterprise
to
receive
kickbacks
on
public
contracts”,
said
the
Zonda
Report.Eskom
paid
Dentons
R20m
(roughly
£900k)
for
its
work,
and
the
law
firm
paid
Fortime
R1.2m
(£50k).
A
similar
paper
trail
was
left
when
Dentons
did
work
on
behalf
of
state-owned
defense
contractor
Denel.
The
Zondo
Report
notes
this
payment
scheme
“points
to
irregularity.”
It
continues,
“In
both
cases,
the
‘marketing
fees’
paid
by
Dentons
to
Fortime
were
only
negotiated
after
the
relevant
contracts
had
been
awarded.”
To
boot,
the
firm
was
“unable
to
produce
any
marketing
material
or
reports
that
Mr
Narayan
or
Fortime
had
ever
produced
for
Dentons.”
Which
led
the
Report
to
the
following
conclusion,
“it
appears
that
the
‘marketing’
work
performed
by
Mr
Narayan
could
only
have
been
influence
peddling.”
And
it
described
the
money
flow
from
Dentons
as,
“expenditure
tainted
by
State
Capture.”
A
spokesperson
for
Dentons
said
the
firm
was
cooperating
with
the
investigation,
“Dentons
South
Africa
has
cooperated
fully
with
all
government
inquiries
into
its
legal
work
for
Eskom
in
2015,
and
will
continue
to
do
so
on
a
going
forward
basis.”
Dentons
isn’t
the
first
Biglaw
firm
caught
in
this
investigation.
In
2017,
Hogan
Lovells
“found
its
name
connected
to
State
Capture
as
a
result
of
work
that
former
partners
performed…
on
an
employment
matter”
and
expressed
“regret
that
our
work
was
associated
with
State
Capture.”
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
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