JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African firm Bosasa has applied for voluntary liquidation after its lenders said they would close its accounts due to reputational risk, the firm said in a statement on Monday.

“The extensive reputational damage in the past few months, occasioned by negative media reports, has resulted in financial institutions determination that the… group poses a reputational risk for them as clients,” it said.

A former executive of Bosasa, now called African Global Operations, was arrested earlier this month alongside five others after testifying at a judicial inquiry that he bribed politicians and bureaucrats to secure government contracts for the company.

Reporting by Emma Rumney; Editing by Kirsten Donovan