Dimension Data is prone to fraudulent dealings

Werner Kapp, fraudulent former CEO of Dimension Data, Middle East and Africa. It was during Kapp’s tenure as CEO that a serious fraud scandal hit Dimension Data: several former executives at the company were implicated in a forensic probe into the December 2019 sales of The Campus, its iconic head office in Bryanston, Johannesburg. Werner now head Altron as CEO. Dimension Data is not new to controversial undertakings that jeopardize the operations of the company and put customers and data at risk. Early this year, a report appeared online that a probe into the sale of their head office, The Campus in Johannesburg, revealed that executives of the tech firm went on an enrichments spree due to the sale. Executives were found guilty of failing to disclose their personal financial interest in the sale of The Campus. The details of the scandal were brought forth after NTT Ltd, Dimension Data’s parent firm, hired the services of the international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills to conduct some forensic investigations into the matter. “The e-mails uncovered by Herbert Smith Freehills show how the implicated executives conspired to sell The Campus to [Identity Property Co] at a price well below its market value. Simultaneously, the implicated executives secured their participation in a separate but related entity that would see them profit handsomely from the undervalued sale of The Campus. Simply put, this amounted to the defrauding of the ultimate owner of The Campus, that being Dimension Data’s parent company, NTT,” TechCentral reported. READ: Dimension Data’s conflict of interest, insider trading and other scandals As per the whistleblower, The Campus was sold to Identity PropCo, a Black women-owned firm led by Sonja de Bruyn, a well-known businesswoman who sits on the boards of companies including Remgro and Discovery Group. The Dimension Data spokesman said the Herbert Smith Freehills report does not implicate De Bruyn in any way." The Somen brothers Jonathan (right) and David At that time, Dimension Data said that they were in the process of taking legal advice that may affect other parties, including potentially the relevant executives and as such, the company could not divulge any further details of the report, Research shows that no one at Dimension Data was held accountable for this fraud. The fraudulent former executive got scot-free. This is why the company has exported its scam to Kenya. Dimension Data said it first became aware of the former executives’ dealings when discussing the alignment of the company’s governance structures to what is in place across the parent group. Its promise to continue to make statutory, regulatory and other necessary disclosures in consultation with its legal counsel, seems to be a fad as scandal runs amok in the Kenyan office. Richard Hechle, CEO, Dimension Data, Kenya