Paul O'Sullivan refutes allegations of infiltrating the IPID

Forensic fraud examiner Paul O’Sullivan on Wednesday denied allegations that he infiltrated and controlled the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).

In his testimony before the Ad Hoc Committee, O’Sullivan said, “it's a blatant lie” that he infiltrated the IPID.

“I have not infiltrated IPID. I opened a docket against (former acting national commissioner Khomotso) Phahlane in February 2016,” he said.

O’Sullivan said the IPID initially flatly refused to investigate the docket for 10 months when it was part of State Capture at the time.

He said nothing was done on the case until he met former IPID executive director Robert McBride in November 2016, after he was reinstated to his position when the court set aside his unlawful suspension.

“Over the next two to three months, we brought IPID up to speed with the investigations.”

O’Sullivan confirmed that he had visited Phahlane’s house and taken pictures earlier that year before he went with an IPID official, whom he showed the house and identified the contractor who was paid with money bags from a boot of the car.

He told the MPs that he took the police watchdog officials, including the late lead investigator Mandla Mahlangu, to the house at their request.

“They asked me to show what I knew,” said O’Sullivan.

He had offered the use of his car to Phahlane’s house because the IPID officials came in a single cab bakkie.

O’Sullivan said an IPID official drove his car and showed their identification to the security at the gate of the estate.

He also told the Ad Hoc Committee that the last time he referred a complaint to IPID was when he laid a complaint against Phahlane in 2016.

“I had interactions with them until 2018.”

O’Sullivan said a SAPS team had unlawfully arrested the IPID members, himself, and his assistant, Sarah-Jane Trent, following the incident.

“The IPID went to court and obtained a court order to stop the counter-investigation by the Mabula team,” he said.

O'Sullivan added that he was detained again, and Trent was also detained for two nights, and her cellphone was confiscated.

“One of the members flew to Israel. She would not give pin code and broke it to open to download contents, which was unlawful,” he said, adding that the phone was taken to an Israeli company that worked for the secret service Mossad that specialises in cracking cellphones.

O’Sullivan said the case against them was struck from the roll after seven or eight months.

In his testimony, O’Sullivan confirmed that he had contributed R200,000 towards the legal fees of McBride in the case involving his suspension.

“I did not discuss with McBride,” he said.

O’Sullivan clarified that the only work they did in the investigation into Phahlane was between February 2016 and the period IPID decided to carry on with the investigation.

He said he has no dealings whatsoever with the IPID.

“There might be one or two cases where we dealt with the regional office in Mpumalanga. There was an allegation of a police official receiving bribes. We helped a complainant to open a case with IPID. That would have been three or four years ago. I was not involved,” he said.

O’Sullivan dismissed the allegation that he targeted Phahlane in his investigation because he had wanted McBride to become the next national commissioner.

“That is a false narrative of both Phahlane and (Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s chief of staff Cedrick) Nkabinde.”

O’Sullivan also clarified about the allegation that he hosted a braai at his house, which was previously owned by fugitive Radovan Krejcir, to hatch the plot to target Phahlane with IPID officials.

The allegation was made by Nkabinde, claiming that apart from IPID officials at the braai, there were people from the DA, AfriForum, and journalists.

According to the forensic fraud examiner, he had asked the owner of the house Krejcir used to live in whether they could hold the social gathering because there was a journalist who was to talk about the book she published on Krejcir.

He said Nkabinde, who made the allegation, had not been invited, but found his way there.

“He alleged there were people from AfriForum and the DA. There was nobody from AfriForum, and nobody there from the DA. All these things were fabricated,” he said.

He named the journalist Angelique Serrao, saying those present were given copies of the book.

“It was not my house. It was never Radovan Krejcir’s house. Radovan used to live there.”

mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za