The Hawks made nearly 550 arrests that ended up in court in the period January to March, almost half of which were for fraud.
Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya briefed the media on Friday on the successes of the Hawks in the fourth quarter of the 2023/2024 financial year.
Of the 526 individuals arrested 80% were South Africans and 20% foreign nationals. Twenty-one companies and entities were also hauled before various courts in the country. The highest number of arrests were in Gauteng, followed by North West.
Lebeya said fraud accounted for the highest number of arrests, with 224 individuals and 21 entities and companies charged.
This included the VBS Mutual Bank fraud matter where R148.6m was paid out in large sums to affiliated companies and laundered through several bank accounts.
Three people aged between 33 and 64 were arrested on March 5 this year during an early morning raid by the Hawks’ serious corruption investigation team.
Former Giyani local municipality’s CFO and acting municipal manager Risimati Hitler Maluleke, 64, was arrested in Lulekani for contravening the Municipal Financial Management Act (MFMA), corruption and money laundering.
Acting CFO Nditshedzeni Mashau, 42, faced charges of flaunting the MFMA, and businessman Zwivhuya Goodness Thishonge, 33, was arrested on allegations of money laundering.
Maluleke was released on R25,000 bail while Mashau and Thishonge were granted R20,000 bail each on March 6 and the case is expected to return to the Polokwane specialised commercial crimes court on July 4 for pretrial.
“Thirty-three VBS arrests have been effected with a total of three already convicted. We are still working on the remaining 43 from the 76 suspects, some of whom were not identified during the initial inquiry. So far, 2,907 statements have been recorded by the investigation team and investigations are continuing,” Lebeya said.
Another infamous case is the Steinhoff matter in which the late former CEO Markus Jooste was fined R475m for contravening the Financial Markets Act. Jooste allegedly inflated Steinhoff UK’s operating profits by about R5.5bn and in December 2016 created transactions that had no substance. A year later, he resigned having earned more than R650m in four years.
Arrest warrants were secured by the Hawks and the NPA on March 20 for Jooste and former Steinhoff director Stephanus Johannes Grobler on allegations of fraud and racketeering. Jooste allegedly committed suicide the following day, a day before he was expected to appear in court.
Grobler was granted R150,000 bail on March 25 while former Steinhoff CFO Ben le Grange handed himself over to the Hawks and was also granted R150,000 bail by the Pretoria specialised commercial crimes court on Wednesday.
The Hawks’ investigations secured a 22-year prison sentence for fraudster and accountant Jonathan Blow, 52, who transferred R40m from Sunnyridge SuperSpar and R11m from Despatch SuperSpar into his bank account between July 2020 and September 2022.
Blow was arrested in March last year and remained in custody until his conviction on September 6.
“He was also notified of having been struck off the roll of the SA Institute for Chartered Accountants (SAICA). On March 7, Blow was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment on each of the two counts of theft. An eight-year sentence on the second count will be served concurrently with the first count. He will effectively serve 22 years’ imprisonment,” said Lebeya.
In another matter, Warrant Officer Claude Ince demanded a R5,000 bribe to destroy evidence against an accused in Durban in 2017. Ince was arrested during an undercover operation and appeared before court on charges of corruption.
He also tried to solicit R3,000 from a shoplifting accused to withdraw the charges but only managed to extort R1,000 from the suspect. As a result, the suspect did not attend court as instructed but once an arrest warrant was issued, she explained that Ince took money from her and told her not to come to court.
He was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment by the Durban specialised commercial crimes court on March 18, and another 10 years for the second matter. He will serve 12 years’ direct imprisonment as the court ordered that eight years from the second count run concurrently with the first 10 years of count one.
“As we reveal these achievements, we acknowledge that the fight against national priority offences remains an ongoing challenge that requires sustained commitment and collaboration. The DPCI reaffirms its commitment to execute its work without fear, favour or prejudice as the law dictates,” Lebeya said.
-TL
In other news – Ex-House Of Zwide actress Zinhle Ngwenya (Lady Zee) answers her spiritual calling
Well-known South African television actress Zinhle Ngwenya has become a traditional healer. Zinhle, who starred in etv’s House Of Zwide as a prophet, says her calling has been there from a young age. The actress, who is also known as Lady Zee, now spends her time healing the sick.
Speaking to the publication Lady Zee says she hasn’t completely left acting. “It was a matter of accepting my calling, and I had accepted it. Read More
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