Kimberley – The State is footing the bill for the legal fees of at least one of the accused in the Trifecta trial, where the expenses for the bail hearing of one of the accused alone came to more than R97 000.

The accused, CEO of Trifecta Holdings, Christo Scholtz, ANC provincial chairman John Block and former MEC for Social Development, Alvin Botes, are expected to appear in the Northern Cape High Court on October 13 for judgement on the multi-million rand fraud, corruption and money laundering case.

The accused allegedly received kickbacks in the form of shares, cash and renovations to their properties in exchange for facilitating government leases at inflated prices.

The fourth accused, the former HOD for Social Development, Yolanda Botha, died in December 2014 after being diagnosed with skin cancer that later spread to her brain.

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