Gandhi scion up for graft
IMPASSIVE RESISTANCE: Ashish Ramgobin, the great-granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, appeared in the Durban Magistrate's Court on a fraud charge involving the alleged misappropriation of R6.2-million.
Image by: JACKIE CLAUSEN
Image by: JACKIE CLAUSEN
Mahatma Gandhi's great-granddaughter, renowned for her community work, yesterday stood in the dock of the Durban Magistrate's Court accused of stealing millions from a businessman.
Ashish Lata Ramgobin - the founder and executive director of the NGO Participative Development Initiative - was arrested on fraud charges at her home on Thursday evening after a Durban businessman, identified as SR Maharaj, complained to the Hawks about a "business deal gone wrong".
The Durban Magistrate's Court yesterday heard that the 45-year-old self-employed mother of two requested R6.2-million from Maharaj to clear port customs for a container but used the money for another purpose.
Prosecutor Sharon Moodley said the Hawks were investigating a second case of fraud against Ramgobin.
Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said Ramgobin was believed to have asked two businessmen to invest in a venture, claiming she had been awarded a lucrative tender to provide bedding to two private hospitals.
Said Mulaudzi: "She claimed then that she was in the process of shipping in three containers from overseas and requested a cash injection, producing false invoices and documents to cement the arrangement.
"The Hawks investigations established that the suspect misrepresented [the situation] to the two businessmen and no such tender was published or awarded to any individual, which led to her arrest."
Ramgobin did not enter a plea.
Her attorney, Devan Moodley, yesterday told the court the containers were in the country. The court heard that Ramgobin's sister would put up her R50,000 bail
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