Errol Gregor, the South African tycoon linked to a US$850 million oil pipeline project in Zimbabwe, was sued in 2019 after a hefty bribery scandal in Ghana, according to the Sentry, a US based investigative unit.
The alleged scandals surrounding Gregor came to a close with his exit from Mining Oil and Gas Services (Mogs), a company that spearheaded his West African endeavors, as documented in The Sentry's report, which underscores his substantial interests in the region's energy landscape.
The report claimed that it was around the time Gregor left Mogs that he shifted his interest to Zimbabwe, striking a deal with the state-run National Oil Infrastructure Company (Noic), to develop the country’s second fuel pipeline.
Gregor, whose proposals are still undergoing requisite approvals in the country, is executing his Zimbabwean strategy through Coven Energy.
The project involves building a transnational fuel pipeline stretching from the Indian Ocean shoreline in Mozambique to Zimbabwe, potentially transforming the country into a regional fuel hub.
Zimbabwe also runs another pipeline through the corridor, but deal makers have been attracted by the country’s plan to leverage its strategic positioning within southern Africa to feed the region with oil.
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The Sentry’s investigation further revealed that if Coven Energy and Noic’s plans sail
through, the second pipeline would be a ‘cash spinning venture’.
“Gregor’s plans to build a second pipeline alongside the first, while at an early stage are moving forward,” The Sentry said.
“If it goes ahead, the second pipeline could be a long-term money spinner.”
Noic now fully controls the pipeline from Feruka to Harare, having snapped in 2018 the 50% stake held by Lonmin, that the mining company spun off in 1998 from Rowland’s firm Lonrho.
When contacted for comment by the Zimbabwe Independent this week, Gregor denied any wrongdoing.
“No one was ever bribed,” he said.
“That never happened. Everything was above board. We would never do anything of that sort,” he added.
But the report, titled ‘South African Behind Zimbabwe's Oil Pipeline Plan Involved in Ghana Fraud Scandal,’ alleged Gregor - who in 2016 fronted Mogs in its West African ambition, was slapped with a lawsuit for “possible fraud and corruption”.
It alleged that in Ghana, Gregor authorised multi-million-dollar bribes to Ghanaian Edwin Obiri, the proprietor of a firm called Africore Energy.
The report alleged that other payments were made to Kingsley Kwame Awuah - Darko, a Ghanaian politician who is alleged to have pulled the strings for Mogs to clinch the oil deal.
The Sentry said Darko was at the time in the run to be the 2024 vice presidential candidate for Ghana’s National Democratic Congress.
Obiri’s Africore, in conjunction with Mogs, submitted a joint bid for the oil platform.
It was, however, Mogs auditors who exposed the bribery allegations, leading to Gregor’s departure and establishment of Coven.
The Independent reported in December 2023 that Coven and Noic will share equal stakes in the pipeline.
“In 2016, Gregor led South African Mogs in its attempt to win control of a valuable offshore oil platform near Accra,” The Sentry claimed.
“During the tendering process, he authorised payments totalling US$18 million from Mogs to a firm controlled by Edwin Obiri, a Ghanaian deal broker,” The Sentry alleged.
“Obiri claims that he funnelled the cash—at the request of Gregor and the political appointee who awarded the contract—to a range of unrelated third parties,” the Sentry’s report alleged.
“During the tendering process for the offshore oil property, Mogs subsequently snapped a controlling stake in Ghana Petroleum Mooring Systems (GPMS), which managed the facility.”
That transaction, according to The Sentry’s report, also raised the alarm.
“After Gregor left Mogs in 2019, the company sued both him and Obiri and referred the matter to the South African police, whose investigation is still ongoing, according to Mogs. Mogs claims that it was the victim of a fraudulent scheme that resulted in payments being made without “any legitimate commercial rationale for the payments”.
On Wednesday, Obiri told the Independent that all payments paid by Mogs to Africore were approved by the full board.
“All payments to Mogs were approved by the board and not paid unilaterally by one individual. Mogs and my company submitted a joint bid for a tender, which included two other companies and we bid the highest as well as being technically competent and through a rigorous process we were determined to be the winners of that tender process.
“That process also had full board oversight and was not the decision of any one individual. From a common-sense perspective, it does not make sense to influence a process and then pay significantly higher than the second bidder. I am sure you appreciate that. Mogs and Africore are private companies. I am not sure what laws in South Africa would have been violated in the process.”