Hamish Rudland told amaBhungane, "Magister's funding arrangements are proprietary and confidential; suffice to state that Magister has provided Tongaat with a bank guarantee issued by The Standard Bank of South Africa to support its underwriting commitments and, as such, this has gone through and passed all banking regulatory processes such as Know Your Client and Anti Money Laundering requirements. Whilst it may be salacious to allege that the transaction is funded by proceeds of illegal cigarette sales, there is absolutely no substance to this."