Rushil and Nishani Singh yesterday appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Palm Ridge on charges of uttering, forgery and fraud in connection with falsified bank guarantees supplied to Investec Bank to secure a R178m loan.

News24 previously reported that the siblings were at the centre of several police investigations, most notably the double murder of liquidators Cloete and Thomas Murray, as well an alleged ‘elaborate fraud’ related to the Investec loans.

Rushil was arrested on Monday night at his apartment in Melrose Arch after agreeing to meet the investigating officer, Sergeant Sarah Motloung. And Nishani arrived in court – in a wheelchair – following an agreement with investigators.

She is seriously ill with pneumonia and tuberculosis, according to a report from her doctor, which was handed to the court in support of her bail application. She is unable to walk, and the expected recovery time is six months, the report stated.

Represented by Advocate Laurance Hodes SC, the Singhs applied for bail, despite Hodes' claims that he, the Singhs and their attorney had walked into a ‘triple setup’, in that they were not informed of the state's intention to oppose bail.

Magistrate Phindi Keswa withheld judgment and they were remanded in custody with Nishani assigned to the medical wing of a correctional facility.

News24 reports that senior prosecutor, Advocate Frans Mhlongo, argued at length that the Singhs, who have considerable assets in Botswana, Ghana and the US, represented a clear flight risk as they were accustomed to extensive international travel and SA's ‘infamously porous borders’ meant they could flee.

Mhlongo said the ‘bleak future represented by the potentially lengthy (15-year) sentence if they were found guilty’ was a strong motivation for them to evade trial.

He added that Rushil, who was arrested in January for allegedly providing forged bank statements to Nedbank in support of a R1m credit card application, had an apparently ‘insatiable appetite for crime’.

An affidavit deposed to by Motloung, who is attached to the National Banking Task Group at the Hawks revealed a raft of other potential criminal investigations the Singhs are facing.

This includes a recommendation by the retired judge, who oversaw the confidential inquiry into the collapse of their business, BIG, that criminal charges be pursued against both siblings for deliberately obstructing the work of the inquiry.

Stanbic Bank in Ghana also opened fraud charges against the pair in that country over the same guarantees.

News24 previously reported that the Singhs obtained multiple loans and bonds for properties from Investec, worth more than R550m.

Cloete Murray was appointed joint provisional liquidator of BIG and assumed control of the company. 

He convened the confidential inquiry and went after several of the assets that were then sold at auction in early March 2023.

Thomas Murray, meanwhile, was appointed joint provisional liquidator of I2 Infinite Innovations, owned by Rushil. While he had worked with his father on a number of complex and high-profile estates, this was his first solo appointment after obtaining his qualifications and being admitted on the national list of liquidators.

On the day of their murders, the Murrays spent the entire morning visiting three properties with Rushil, Nishani and an auctioneer, preparing for the properties to be auctioned.

After parting ways at Melrose Arch, the Murrays were shot dead while driving home to Pretoria on 18 March 2023.

No arrests have been made.

Full News24 report