KEY POINTS
- Mpumalanga authorities claim that a health official and service providers faked PPE procurement in 2020.
- R2.5 million was spent on buying houses and vehicles with the money from fraud.
- A court granted the Hawks and NPA a forfeiture order to keep looking into the case.
The Mpumalanga High Court has seized a house and three vehicles involved in a fraud scheme that defrauded the government of R5 million through Covid-19 PPE procurement.
The court order issued in Mbombela came after an investigation by the Hawks found that a former secretary in the Mpumalanga Department of Health had helped service providers to stage fake PPE contracts and deliveries during the peak of the pandemic in 2020.
The process of the fraud
As Lieutenant Colonel Magonseni Nkosi of Hawks revealed, the secretary assisted two delivery companies to create fake paperwork for PPE that did not exist. Due to these fake payments, the companies received almost R5 million in total.
Zanderson Establishment then purchased a R1.5 million house in Barberton, with the only director being the secretary’s daughter. After selling the original home, the company bought a property named SS Umoya in Sunninghill, Johannesburg under the ownership of Sanele Sanderson.
Items taken away as a result of criminal investigations
Under the Hawks’ order, the court has now allowed forfeiting of the Sunninghill property and three vehicles belonging to service providers: a Toyota Quantum, a Hyundai light delivery vehicle and a Volkswagen Golf, together worth R1 million.
“Any gains from crime will be located, prevented from being spent and taken for the state’s benefit,” said Major General Nico Gerber, the provincial head of the Hawks in Mpumalanga.
The ongoing effort to fight Covid-19 corruption
Law enforcement is using this ruling to try and recover money stolen from pandemic relief programs. Gerber also pointed out that the case reflects good cooperation between the Hawks, the AFU and the SIU.
This should serve as a reminder that we will comprehend and confiscate disguised assets, no matter what. He also believes that criminal activity should not lead to profits.
A similar campaign last year confiscated assets worth more than R52.6 million tied to fraud related to Covid-19 and the supply of PPE in Mpumalanga. Twenty-two top officials in the Department of Public Works were among those accused of engaging in fraud, along with other involved parties.
The current police investigation of this case also continues.
