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Lieutenant General Peter Jacobs
- The chief of the police’s Criminal Intelligence Unit, Lt. Gen. Peter Jacobs, faces a suspension on serious misconduct charges.
- This relates to the acquisition of PPE Covid-19, allegedly using a bribery fund earmarked for undercover operations.
- Jacobs, seen as a new broom to sweep the unit, has yet to receive this suspension letter.
A bizarre turn of events has apparently left the police’s Criminal Intelligence Unit rudderless, with top brass unable to deliver a letter of suspension to Lt. Gen. Peter Jacobs while on “sick leave.”
Impeccable sources in law enforcement, both in police management and in the intelligence sphere, told News24 that a letter had been prepared but not delivered as Jacobs is in the ether.
Jacobs’ suspension is the latest in a series of scandals to befall the Criminal Intelligence Unit, which has seen a number of commanders find themselves on the wrong side of the law.
It is also not the first time that the Secret Services Account bribery fund, intended to fund secret intelligence operations and pay informants, has been at the center of allegations of looting.
READ | Criminal intelligence infiltrated – police commissioner
Documents obtained by News24, setting out the charges Jacobs must face, as well as a notice of intent to suspend him, put a R1 million Covid-19 PPE acquisition deal at the center of the campaign to oust him from office.
In a statement that exposes an alleged misconduct, three violations of police policy have been placed at his feet.
“During March 2020, in or near Pretoria, he allegedly committed misconduct … in the sense that he deliberately presided over an acquisition process that resulted in the abuse of the Secret Services Account … in which he authorized the use of the fund to purchase or acquire Covid-19 Personal Protective Equipment.
“[This] while you [were] aware or should have been aware … that the ‘bribery fund’ should not be used for such activities in terms of the relevant requirements, “the document reads.
Jacobs is also accused of delegating the authority of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to a subordinate “who was not legally competent. [to] perform the functions of CFO of the Division of Criminal Intelligence “, and then authorize a procurement request for the security team.
‘Dark days of embezzlement’
The final accusation leveled at Jacobs is that he is guilty of misconduct for circulating an email that sought or had the potential to cause divisions in the already fractured unit.
“This (Jacobs) office is aware of factions within the division that are bent on seeing the secret services account associated with the dark days of embezzlement and corruption,” the spy police chief reportedly wrote.
The notice that contemplated his suspension, dated November 30, allowed him 48 hours to make arrangements. News24 understands that Jacobs has written to police management to counter the allegations.
Lieutenant General Sindile Mfazi, the Deputy National Commissioner for Management Advisory Services, now oversees the division.
Mfazi and Jacobs, the sources said, have a long history of blasting over the unit’s control and operations.
READ | 27 Criminal intelligence officers have criminal records and some are serious
Last month, the Sunday World reported that the unit had irregularly paid about 1 million rand to purchase PPE, and claimed that some of the products purchased with the bribery fund were deficient.
The newspaper cited letters allegedly sent to Jacobs by Intelligence Inspector General Setlhomamaru Dintwe, demanding that Jacobs cooperate with his investigation into the alleged abuse of the fund.
The correspondence, which has not been seen by News24, allegedly claims that a Durban company received R430,000 on March 24, R450,000 the next day, and R75 912 on March 31, bringing the total to R955 912.
Police spokesman Brigadier Vish Naidoo stressed that Jacobs had not been suspended. He confirmed that Mfazi was supervising the operations of the Unit.
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