Former Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) employee Markus Bruegmann has resigned as CEO of Rock Tech Lithium, a multinational start-up, following allegations by prosecutors of his involvement in corruption for which former Eskom boss Matshela Koko and seven others were charged last month.

Besides Koko and his wife, Mosima, and his stepdaughters, Koketso Aren (neé Choma) and Thato Choma, Thabo Mokwena, a former employee of the State Security Agency, Eskom's former project manager for Kusile, Frans Sithole, lawyer and alleged Koko fixer, Johannes Coetzee, and Koko associate Watson Seswai were arrested and appeared in the Middelburg Regional Court on charges of fraud, corruption, and money laundering.

They were all granted bail, ranging from R70 000 to R300 000, and will appear in court again on 23 March.

But not in the stand on the day were three foreign nationals - Bruegmann and Sunil Vip, who are both German nationals, as well as Gopal Shamji Kambi, a UK resident.

The Investigating Directorate (ID) previously declined to respond to questions seeking confirmation that extradition proceedings were planned or underway. 

Vip and Bruegmann were formerly employed by ABB, which was awarded a R2-billion contract in 2015 to install control and instrumentation (C&I) systems at the Kusile power station.

A C&I system was effectively the brain of a power station, prosecutors said in court documents.

The system provides a centralised control system that feeds information from hundreds of sensors to a control room.

Bruegmann was named as accused number 16 in a draft charge sheet served before the court in connection with one count of corruption. He, through his attorney Ulrich Roux, denied any wrongdoing.

"Our client denies any wrongdoing whatsoever and confirms that he has never acted in an unlawful manner. Our client has not been approached in a formal manner by the South African Police Services or by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) pertaining to this matter, but offers his full co-operation should they approach him," Roux said. 

Just four days after the arrests and subsequent publication of Bruegmann's name, on 31 October, Rock Tech released a statement confirming his resignation.

"The company has accepted … Bruegmann's resignation, allowing him to attend to personal matters unrelated to his tenure at Rock Tech. The company thanks him for his services and wishes him all the best," the statement read.

Bruegmann was appointed to the position of CEO of Rock Tech in January 2022 after joining the company in November 2021. 

His resignation came within 10 days of the company confirming a major deal to supply high-quality lithium to Mercedes-Benz, which the carmaker plans to use in the manufacture of batteries for its electric vehicles. 

Prior to working for Rock Tech, Bruegmann was employed by Mitsubishi Power Europe after a 10-year stint at ABB. Prosecutors alleged in court documents ABB terminated his employment. 

The case centres on two alleged corruption schemes that saw the Koko family paid at least R38-million by an ABB sub-contractor, Impulse International, which was, according to prosecutors, washed through a series of companies belonging to Koko's wife and stepdaughters.

It is alleged ABB won the contract on the strength of undertakings by its employees to appoint Leago, a company belonging to Mokwena, as a subcontractor.

But Koko and Mokwena allegedly had a falling out, and while ABB paid some money to Leago, the two parted ways, ushering in the second scheme with Impulse International.

Roux said his client, Bruegmann, had never denied knowing Koko and Mokwena, but said "their relationships were strictly limited to business interactions in their respective commercial positions" and added Bruegmann had not had any contact with either Koko or Mokwena since 2015.

"Our client is a respected and professional business manager with more than 25 years of global working experience and has never acted in any manner which will jeopardise his professional reputation or integrity," Roux said.  

The Impulse scheme

Following the apparent demise of the Leago scheme, ABB appointed Impulse and paid the company at least R549-million over two years. ABB has since paid back R1.57-billion to Eskom.

Impulse was awarded additional contracts by Eskom, worth roughly R260-million, both before and after Koko's stepdaughter, Koketso, became a shareholder.

Apparently in exchange for no significant investment, she was given a 25% shareholding in Impulse, which later became 30%.

News24 previously reported Mokwena had taken ABB to court to secure payment for outstanding invoices and also previously revealed Swiss and German authorities had granted a mutual legal assistance request that enabled the sharing of incriminating emails with the ID.

News24 understands Impulse International CEO Pregasen Pather would have been among the co-accused, but he died in June 2021.

It is also believed ABB was not included as an accused because the company had self-reported the findings of corruption to the NPA as well as the justice department in the US.

In an affidavit by the investigating officer that was read into the court record, Bruegmann, Vip and another ABB employee were accused of engaging in a "general corrupt relationship" with Koko, who allegedly "used his influence and position to influence the award of the C&I contract to ABB".

In the charge sheet, it is set out that Koko, Mokwena, Vip and Bruegmann had "regular contact with each other" between 2014 and 2016, when the C&I contract was in the process of being awarded to ABB.

Bruegmann, prosecutors alleged, was employed by ABB in 2010 and was involved in the Kusile project until December 2016. ABB learned in 2013 the previous C&I contractor, Alstom, was struggling and Eskom intended to terminate the deal.

ABB and, in particular, Bruegmann allegedly approached Koko for a "top-down approach".

"The sole purpose for ABB and [Bruegmann's] approach to [Koko] was to establish a corrupt relationship whereby ABB would secure the tender for the C&I works at Kusile," the charge sheet read.

It also set out ABB, particularly Vip, was of the view ABB had to secure a BEE partner with a major selection criterion being political connectivity, as ABB believed it would not be awarded the contract otherwise.

Vip and ABB believed "final decisions for the award of such contracts are always taken at a political level".

Mokwena was viewed as the "right" BEE partner "inter alia because of the corrupt relationship" between Koko and Mokwena.

Roux said Bruegmann welcomed "any communication" from the NPA or police "and offers any assistance which they might require".

Bruegmann was taken aback when he learned his name appeared in the draft charge sheet and pointed out his name was likely not to be included in a final charge sheet, as he was innocent of the charge.

Roux confirmed Bruegmann had been requested to provide information to the German authorities "pertaining to an ongoing investigation which they are conducting and has been transparent and forthcoming in his dealings with them". 

"Our client [Bruegmann] denies any wrongdoing and confirms that he has never been involved in or benefitted from any corrupt relationships in South Africa. Our client looks forward to being granted an opportunity to clear his good name and offers his full cooperation to the South African authorities," he said.