THE Hawks in the Eastern Cape arrested a 38-year-old man on Wednesday, 25 May, for faking his matric certificate.
Lesedi Mothuse appeared at the Mthatha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on the same day where he pleaded guilty to fraud charges.
According to Captain Yolisa Mgolodela, in 2011 Mothuse applied for employment as a data capturer at the Department of Health in Cofimvaba.
He submitted a Grade 12 certificate together with his application documents.
“A verification of qualifications was later conducted by the department on the employee. It was discovered that the employee never passed Grade 12.
“The matter was reported to the Hawks for investigation in November 2021,” Mgolodela said.
She said the investigation revealed that the department lost more than R1,7 million through the payment of his salary in that period.
Mothuse was released on R4 000 bail and is expected to stand for a trial scheduled for 21 July.
