NPA faces scrutiny over plea bargain granted to Stuart Scharnick

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in KwaZulu-Natal says it is investigating how businessman Stuart James Scharnick, who faced serious criminal charges like carjacking and car theft, was granted a fine and a five-year suspended sentence.

In a media briefing called by provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s office on Thursday, the provincial Deputy Commissioner for Crime Detection Major-General Anthony Gopaul alleged that Scharnick was “treated with kid gloves” by the NPA during his court appearances for 18 charges, where he got away with “a slap on the wrist”.

Gopaul stated that their investigation has revealed that Scharnick entered into a plea bargain for his case, which resulted in a fine and a five-year suspended sentence.

He described this as a shocking decision by the NPA since cases carry between 10 and 15 years of direct imprisonment.

In its response, the NPA provincial spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said the matter is under investigation to determine the issues of pleas, withdrawal, and matters not enrolled.

“The Director of Public Prosecutions in KwaZulu-Natal, Adv. Elaine Harrison has noted the media briefing done by Major General Anthony Gopaul. The SAPS and NPA have been in collaboration regarding the dockets, which will be provided to the DPP for an investigation to be conducted and to determine the issues raised regarding the plea(s) taken, the cases withdrawn, and the matters not enrolled.

“As a result, no responses can be provided at this point on the issues raised at the briefing,” read the statement.

Gopaul announced that a SAPS employee in the Criminal Records Register Centre in Pretoria is under investigation following findings earlier this year that he accessed the police system and cleared the criminal record of Scharnick, an associate of embattled deputy national police commissioner, Shadrack Sibiya.

Gopaul discussed criminal cases linked to Scharnick, who has opened cases, including one of defeating the ends of justice against the South African Police Service’s head of Crime Intelligence, Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo, at the Pretoria Central police station.

Gopaul said that after Scharnick disputed Khumalo’s testimony at the Madlanga Commission, that (he) Scharnick had criminal records linked to carjackings and car theft, police in the province felt they should respond, as most of the cases took place in KwaZulu-Natal.

Khumalo had told the commission that Scharnick is “a serial hijacker” and linked him to criminal syndicates. Khumalo also claimed that a Toyota double-cab bakkie driven by Sibiya was registered in Scharnick’s name.

Gopaul said police were shocked to discover that Scharnick's criminal records were deleted from the system by an employee. He said that the employee would not have been aware that there was a backup record.

He further stated that he believed that Scharnick was banking on that when he denied having a criminal record of carjackings.

“We discovered that a certain employee had removed Scharmick records. However, we found his criminal records and can confidently inform the public that Scharnick was convicted of carjackings and theft.,” said Gopaul.

Speaking to journalists outside the Pretoria Central police station on Wednesday, Scharnick said he had instructed his lawyers to pursue both criminal and civil actions against Khumalo.

“We have to start with the lies that he put on record, that I was convicted of 18 hijackings. I have not been convicted of one hijacking in my life. I have my records from the Local Criminal Record Centre (LCRC), and if General Khumalo had any intelligence, as the head of intelligence, he would have picked up the phone and phoned the Local Criminal Record Centre, which keeps the records of all the cases,” Scharnick had said.

willem.phungula@inl.co.za