Johannesburg – The Hawks have arrested Kgotso Khumalo, the mayor of JB Marks Municipality in the North West, and Cyril Hendry, one of the senior managers, for theft and fraud.
The two were arrested on Friday and appeared in the Potchefstroom Magistrate's Court a few hours later.
The charges are linked to R5 million allegedly deposited into the municipality’s trust account but never declared to the Auditor-General.
Captain Tlangelani Rikhotso said the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation conducted investigations into the account and discovered a series of payments were allegedly made from the account to Khumalo and Hendry’s private bank accounts instead.
Rikhotso said investigations also revealed the funds in the trust were misrepresented to appear as if they were being used to pay for services rendered to the municipality while invoices were allegedly being falsified.
“In some instances, funds were allegedly paid into service providers' accounts for services that were never rendered, thereafter the money would allegedly be collected by the suspects,” Rikhotso said.
Investigations were still continuing and more arrests could not be ruled out, she said.
The matter has been postponed to December 1, 2020 for further investigation.
“The suspects were released on a warning and ordered to not set foot anywhere near the municipality and not to contact any the witnesses until the case is concluded,” Rikhotso said.
Last week the Hawks arrested former Ratlou acting municipal manager Cassius Sebatane Sejake, regarding tender corruption on contracts worth R5.8 million.
The Hawks said it was alleged the North West municipality awarded tenders without a proper bidding process.
IOL