For years, we’ve heard how two advisory firms, Regiments Capital and Trillian Capital, positioned themselves to benefit from state largesse, thanks to their links to the Guptas’ right-hand man, Salim Essa. Millions in contracts from two state entities, Transnet and Eskom, flowed into their coffers.
Three years ago, a whistleblower told former public protector Thuli Madonsela that Eric Wood, one of the founders of Regiments, knew as early as October 2015 that finance minister Nhlanhla Nene would soon be fired. A few weeks later, on December 9, that’s what happened.
But the question unanswered until now is: how did Regiments profit from that advance warning?
Many believed Wood’s company had bet on a fall in the rand, but evidence hadn’t yet emerged.
However, the Organised Crime & Corruption Reporting Project, in a report in the FM this week, lays out how Regiments allegedly made between R100m and R500m from insider information.
It’s an astounding claim: Regiments allegedly used its own client funds, the Transnet pension fund and a City of Joburg fund, to buy the R186 government bond, while using Regiments as the counterparty. So, for every rand the pension fund lost, Regiments made a rand. The sheer cynicism of it is breathtaking. It should outrage us all.
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