Johannesburg - The Scorpions struck for the second time this week to obtain evidence in the R66 billion arms deal probe. On Tuesday simultaneous raids were carried out in France, Mauritius and Durban and documents were confiscated.

National Directorate of Public Prosecutions spokesperson Sipho Ngwema said the documents were linked to possible offences connected to the arms deal probe.

The Durban home and offices of Schabir Shaik were searched as well as the offices of his company Nkobi Holdings. Shaik is allegedly connected with awarding the contract to provide systems for the navy's four new corvettes.

International co-operation

Shaik's brother, Chippy Shaik, was chief arms buyer of the Defence Force and a key figure in the probe.

Earlier, former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni had been arrested on charges of corruption, fraud, perjury and forgery related to the arms investigation.

Scorpions investigators co-operated with the French and Mauritian police to simultaneously raid business premises in Durban, Paris, other French towns and Port Louis in Mauritius.

Permission was first obtained through diplomatic channels to obtain the documentary evidence.

After the respective national police services raided the overseas premises, they handed the documents to South African investigators. Interpreters were used to overcome language barriers.

The documents are related to African Defence Systems (ADS) as subcontractor for the corvettes' fighting suites; Futuristic Business Solutions (FBS), involved in countertrade agreements; and Thomson CSF, a French company with a majority share in ADS.

Nobody questioned

Schabir Shaik's home and the offices of Nkobi in Durban were searched. Nkobi's lawyers, Ditz Incorporated, and the home of Colin Isaacs, financial director of Nkobi, were also searched on Tuesday morning.

In France, the investigation focused on the offices of Thales International, the holding company of Thomsom CSF; and the homes of two senior directors of Thomson CSF's Southern African branch, Jean-Paul Perrier and Alain Thetard.

In Mauritius, the offices of Thales International Africa and Valmet Mauritius, housing more Thales offices, and another of Thetard's homes were searched.

Nobody was questioned during the latest action. Ngwema said search warrants were issued as there were reasonable grounds to believe documentation to assist the investigation would be found on the premises.

This did not mean the owners of the premises were crime suspects, Ngwema said.

Woerfel up

It seems as if Tuesday morning's crackdown came as a surprise to those involved - as did Yengeni's arrest. Experts believe more arrests will follow shortly.

Michael Woerfel of European Aerospace and Defence Systems (EADS) will appear in the Pretoria Commercial Court on Thursday on charges of corruption and forgery.

The charges are related to those brought against Yengeni after Woerfel had allegedly procured a luxury vehicle for Yengeni at a 47% discount rate from EADS's sister company, DaimlerChrysler SA, in exchange for alleged preferential treatment in awarding the arms contracts. 

With acknowledgment to Erika Gibson, Beeld and News24.