PAPER TRAIL: Invoices reveal anomalies in the millions Daybreak Foods paid to PIC-linked law firm
The DA’s call for an SIU probe into the legal fees billed to Daybreak Foods certainly has merit when looking at the invoicing – misconduct so severe that even the business rescue practitioner recommended criminal prosecution and civil recovery.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) probe and criminal investigations into the poultry producer, Daybreak Foods, following revelations of massive financial irregularities in the invoices paid to a law firm linked to the PIC. Forensic investigations revealed that the firm's attorneys, PJM Attorneys, were paid approximately R123.9-million over two years, with R39.9-million unlinked to any invoice and R8.8-million in suspected duplicate payments.
The controversy stems from the fact that the law firm was appointed to investigate corporate misconduct at Daybreak, placing a practice linked to the PIC's own executive at the center of the probe. The DA's concerns are further fueled by the fact that the appointments were initiated by the Daybreak board and approved by its then secretary and chair, raising questions of conflicts of interest and misconduct.
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