EASTERN CAPE – Gqeberha based Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team of the Hawks summoned a couple aged 35 and 36 for allegations of fraud and money laundering on 26 May 2022.
It is alleged that during the period between March 2013 and February 2021, the suspect, an Administrative Clerk and Learner Support Officer at the Coega Development Corporation used the details of the learners that had already exited the training programs and substituted their bank details with his on the payroll system to the wage bureaus which the service provider used to process the learners stipends.
The stipends are further alleged to have been paid into various bank accounts which are reported to have been in the name of the suspect.
In 2021 the corporation after discovering some inconsistencies, reported the matter to the Hawks to conduct an investigation. The investigation revealed that the suspect also paid the funds into his wife’s bank account. Coega was prejudiced cash to the value of more the R6.6 million.
The suspects are reported to have sold their property in Gqeberha and moved to Mthatha where they were traced and summoned by the Hawks on 26 May 2022.
The couple is expected to make their first court appearance in the Gqeberha Specialised Commercial Crime Court on 30 May 2022.
The Gqeberha Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team of the Hawks is lauded by the Provincial Head Major General Mboiki Obed Ngwenya for the sterling job