Former Bosasa chief operations officer and state capture whistleblower Angelo Agrizzi was granted bail of R20‚000 after appearing in court on Wednesday in connection with tenders worth R1.6bn that were awarded by the department of correctional services to Bosasa.

Agrizzi appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court. He was named as a suspect by the Hawks along with former correctional services commissioner Linda Mti‚ former correctional services chief financial officer Patrick Gillingham and former Bosasa executive Andries van Tonder.

Mti did not appear in court alongside his co-accused on Wednesday.

The state did not oppose bail. The accused were released on bail of R20‚000 each - on condition that they surrender their passports.

Hawks spokesperson Brig Hangwani Mulaudzi said earlier that the suspects‚ including a person who is currently overseas‚ were contacted on Tuesday by detectives from the serious economic offences unit.

"They were arrested this morning after they surrendered to the Hawks officers‚" he said.

The case was postponed to March 27.

- TMG Digital