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The head of the Hawks, Godfrey Lebeya.
- While the Hawks have arrested several suspects for their alleged involvement in Covid-19 bidding corruption, the elite unit says there has been an influx of cases.
- The Hawks have yet to investigate about 80,000 identified illegal payments.
- The head of the unit, General Godfrey Lebeya, told parliament that the “collaborative” approach between the various law enforcement agencies had yielded positive results.
With another round of Covid-19 corruption arrests expected this week, the Hawks have seen an influx of cases with around 80,000 illegal payments identified that the elite crime-fighting unit must investigate.
As the workload increased, a “multidisciplinary and collaborative” approach between the various law enforcement agencies had yielded positive results.
The Fusion Center, established to deal with the Covid-19 graft, had also prioritized identified cases to be heard in court.
This came when the head of the Hawks, General Godfrey Lebeya, met with Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) during a virtual meeting on Tuesday.
The Hawks, the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) and the National Tax Authority (NPA) briefed Scopa on the progress made in investigations into Covid-19-related corruption.
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Lebeya told MPs that the country could expect some “successes” as the Hawks made more arrests for Covid-19 corruption this week.
He also said that the Hawks had established teams in every province, including the Pretoria headquarters.
He said:
All teams are led by officers at a brigadier level, comprising all capabilities within the Hawks. A Specialized Investigation Division General in Priority Crimes has been appointed to oversee and monitor all investigations related to the Covid-19 pandemic at the national level, as well as to assist with any challenges that may arise from the investigations. These teams are working in collaboration with the NPA, as well as with the SIU in the provinces.
The Hawks’ current caseload includes 174 cases, with six criminal cases, already on the court’s list.
Citing some of the six cases, Lebeya said that an employee of an entity called CSG Resourcing had filed a claim for funding from the FIU’s Temporary Assistance Plan for Employers (TERS) for employees on its payroll.
The claim was submitted and, upon consultation of the payment, it was found that the amount of R5 688 802.20 had been diverted to a Capitec bank account.
Lebeya said the six defendants faced charges of fraud and money laundering and that the matter had been postponed until Nov. 16.
“The Property Confiscation Unit (AFU) obtained a preservation order for five vehicles that were seized on the defendant’s property. They are currently in the process of filing a request for final confiscation, anticipated to be presented at the end of October” , He said .
In another case, Lebeya said that the director of the South African Fund for Nursing Students had reported that the defendant contacted him, who informed him that his NPO had received 50 million rand from the Department of Social Development.
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He said:
They instructed him to meet with them to discuss the distribution of the funds. Investigations revealed that the names of the director and his spouse were fraudulently used to secure the funds. Due to swift intervention, the department failed to pay the 50 million rand. Six defendants face charges of fraud, extortion and intimidation, and the matter has been held until December 1 for further investigation.
Lebeya said that information on an amount of R4.7 million also followed, part of a claim from the FIU Relief Fund of an entity called Mega Bus, which was mistakenly transferred to a Capitec Bank account.
He said that the beneficiary was a retired employee of the entity, currently receiving pension benefits from the Department of Labor.
The defendant, Moses Leso, returned R4.1 million to the fund after spending R600,000.
He will appear in court later this month.
Lebeya also said that obtaining search and seizure warrants, undercover operations and determining witness statements were just some of the factors that affected “the timing of the cases.”
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