The Hawks have in the early hours of this morning arrested ten suspects on charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering, linked to the awarding of a contact for toilets in the Eastern Cape.
The raids were carried out by multi-disciplinary teams, which included crime intelligence and SAPS detectives, in several provinces -namely the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.
The suspects allegedly colluded in accessing the Amathole District Municipality funds through flaunting of procurement processes. Afterwards they were awarded a contract for ventilated improved toilets in the Eastern Cape, said the Hawks in a statement.
“The Hawks’ preliminary investigation discovered that over R600 million was to be awarded for the contract, of which R286 million has already been paid to the suspects,” the Hawks said on Thursday.
All ten suspects, aged between 34 and 60, will be appearing in the East London Magistrate’s Court on Friday on charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA).
The Hawks said asset forfeiture processes are underway.
Acting National Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) Lieutenant General Yolisa Matakata applauded the team members for the arrests.
“This development is most welcome in our greater fight against corruption to ensure that clean and credible governance prevails. We will stop at nothing to ensure that corrupt perpetrators, be it in the private sector or government are brought to book,” she said. – SAnews.gov.za
