Trillion Debacle at Eskom Unveiled: Inside Look at Fraudulent Payments and top Executives Role

The recent revelations about Eskom's dealings with Trillian have placed the utility's top officials under the spotlight. The story broke when reports surfaced suggesting that the Gupta-linked company Trillian was disbursed R595 million by Eskom without a valid contract, in direct contravention of Eskom's system designed to prevent fraud.

Now, detailed investigation documents and interviews provide further insights into how Trillion was covertly integrated onto Eskom’s payment system. Eskom's suspended CFO, Anoj Singh, along with several other senior figures at the power utility, are now implicated in the Trillian pay-out scandal. The evidence points to a pattern of coercion, in which mid-tier officials were pressured into falsifying documents to manoeuvre the transaction.

This scandal, which has also entangled prominent global consulting firm McKinsey, comes from within Eskom’s own investigations, the G9 Forensic interim report, and also a series of 10 draft charges for the disciplinary process against Singh.

These and other serious allegations of cover-ups and misconduct, including breaching fiduciary duties and authorizing irregular expenditure, have led to further suspensions throughout Eskom’s senior management team. Today, criminal investigations have also been recommended.

Singh, who was subjected to the initial suspension, responded to the allegations by claiming that he acted in good faith and in line with his responsibilities and the company's policies. He refuted claims that he was involved in misdirecting the media and encouraged a proper platform for all alleged grievances to be examined.

This controversy began as a result of a whistle-blower's report about an irregular payment upon submission of an invoice for R152.76-million by Trillian in December 2016. The whistle-blower claimed that the unusually swift payment was highly unprocedural.

Trillian, despite not having a contract with Eskom, was granted preferential treatment through senior executives bending or breaking Eskom's regulations. At various points, officials were manipulated into circumventing company policy to facilitate payments to Trillian, a flagrant violation of internal financial controls.

Going forward, calls for extensive investigation are getting stronger, and the push to reclaim funds from Trillian is on. The company, however, maintains that they were compensated for completed work and have done nothing out of line. Only time will reveal the true extent of this complication at Eskom.