SEVEN suspects are expected to appear before the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on Thursday, 21 July, facing charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering.
According to Captain Christopher Singo, it is alleged that in 2017, three officials from the Department of Public Works in the Free State and two company directors defrauded the department by submitting fraudulent invoices for the leasing of two properties to the state.
“After the department made payments to service providers, transfers were made to these officials and other private individuals who were allegedly used for money laundering.
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“Private individuals would then transfer the money to these government officials,” Singo said.
He said the department was prejudiced and suffered a total loss of more than R3 million as a result of the fraudulent activities.
“The matter was reported to the Hawks’ serious corruption investigation team based in Bloemfontein for further investigation,” said Singo.
The suspects, aged between 31 and 81, were served with summons on 22 June and 7 July.
