Pretoria: Prominent gospel musician and medical doctor Dr Tumi and his wife have been released on bail after they appeared in court on Tuesday on charges of defrauding the National Lotteries Board, The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) said.
The Hawks’ serious commercial crime investigation team in Johannesburg arrested the musician, aged 39, and his 36-year-old wife on Tuesday on the charges involving about R1.5 million, Hawks spokesperson in Gauteng Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu said.
The musician and doctor, whose real name is Dr Tumisang Victor Makweya, and his wife Kgaogelo Sara Makweya were listed as committee members of a non-profit organisation and allegedly submitted altered grant application documents to the National Lotteries Board for approval of funds to finance projects in 2018.
Further investigations revealed that the couple and their co-accused, Christopher Tshivule and Thomas Ndadza, submitted the documents to the National Lotteries Commission in September 2018, resulting in more than R1.5m being transferred into a private bank account. Tshivule and Ndadza are out on R5 000 bail each.
“(Dr Tumi and wife) allegedly benefited approximately R760 000 from the funds. They handed themselves in at the (Hawks) Johannesburg office, escorted by their attorney, and were subsequently charged for fraud,” Mulamu said.
The Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court postponed the case until May 7.
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African News Agency (ANA)