Super Group is pursuing criminal charges against a relative of one of Angola's most powerful generals over his failure to pay for commercial vehicles and parts worth close to R200 million that the listed transport and logistics group says were fraudulently bought from.
Adam Cracker, Super Group's chief operating officer, confirmed on Friday that several meetings had been held with Interpol over the issuing of an international arrest warrant for the unnamed individual and his partner. The vehicles involved were 350 Chinese-manufactured Powerstar trucks, including tipper trucks, tanker trucks, truck tractors and a tranche of trailers, plus another 100 construction vehicles, including front-end loaders and other items.
Half of these trucks have been sold but Super Group has been unable to move the remaining units held at three locations in Luanda.
In December, Super Group's board made a provision of R197.4m for the exposure it had identified in Angola.
The matter has been at a stalemate since the beginning of this year over payment terms and attempts to negotiate a settlement. The exit of the group's business activities in Angola had hit an impasse.
Cracker said a complaint was lodged with the SAPS about two months ago and Super Group's legal representatives were now involved in discussions with the National Prosecuting Authority over jurisdiction to allow for the fraud case to be heard in South Africa. He said the criminal action had to take place outside Angola because only a limited commercial law process was available in that country and the chances of securing a successful criminal law prosecution were remote.
The scam happened after two Super Group executives bypassed a directive of the group's board to be wary of any credit risk or exposure in Angola. When the trucks and inventory were handed over to the group's agents in Angola there were no proper controls and proof of payment in place.
"These executives are, at this point, living in Mauritius. One was dismissed and the other left the group prior to completion of a disciplinary process," Cracker said.
The Angolan fraud is one of several setbacks suffered by Super Group in recent months and an Arabian global logistics company, Agility, has formally made a takeover offer to the group.
Super Group said it expected to report a loss of between R1.12 billion and R1.37bn in the year to June but indicated that the cost of disposing of and closing non-core businesses were the principal factors in the anticipated loss.
Restructuring would leave Super Group with operations that were expected to show a profit of between R1m and R5m for the year to June.