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By Botho Molosankwe 
9h ago
Johannesburg – The Hawks arrested Kgotso Khumalo, the mayor of JB Marks Township in the northwest, and Cyril Hendry, a senior manager, for theft and fraud.
The two were arrested on Friday and appeared in Potchefstroom Magistrates Court a few hours later.
The charges are linked to R5 million supposedly deposited in the trust account of the municipality, but never declared to the Auditor General.
Captain Tlangelani Rikhotso said that the Hawks’ Serious Business Crimes Investigation conducted investigations into the account and found that a series of payments were allegedly made from the account to Khumalo and Hendry’s private bank accounts.
Rikhotso said investigations also revealed that funds in the trust were misrepresented to make it appear that they were being used to pay for services rendered to the municipality, while invoices were allegedly falsified.
“In some cases, funds were allegedly paid to the accounts of service providers for services that were never rendered; then the suspects would supposedly collect the money, ”Rikhotso said.
Investigations are still continuing and further arrests cannot be ruled out, he said.
The matter was postponed until December 1, 2020 for further investigation.
“The suspects were released after a warning and ordered not to set foot anywhere near the municipality and not to contact any witnesses until the case was concluded,” Rikhotso said.
Last week, the Hawks arrested former Ratlou interim city manager Cassius Sebatane Sejake in connection with bid rigging in contracts worth R5.8 million.
The Hawks said the Northwest Township is alleged to have awarded bids without a proper bidding process.
MESS
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