Seven men, including a former Member of Parliament (MP) and company directors, arrested on charges of corruption, are expected to appear in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Wednesday.
The accused handed themselves over to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) in Gauteng.
Hawks spokesperson, Brigadier Thandi Mbambo, said the accused were arrested following a forensic report by the Specialised Investigating Unit (SIU) which discovered that in October 2016 the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development issued a tender requesting proposals to integrate and formalise waste operatives and waste into the mainstream waste management economy.
A tender of around R27 million was then awarded to Enviro-Mobi in March 2017.
She said the contract agreement between the Department and Enviro- Mobi stipulated that the Department may consider to pay on condition that 50% of the work has been completed and no upfront payments may be made to the service provider.
“During investigation it was established that the Chief Director and Chief Financial Officer processed and paid over R25 million to Enviro-Mobi for 200 motorised three wheelers, though all goods were still in the possession of the service provider,” Mbambo said.
Investigations also revealed that the service provider later issued a letter of demand to the Department demanding a further payment of over R9 million for safe-keeping, storage and ancillary services relating to the fleet.
“Also that the company failed to disclose in its bid proposal, its affiliation to the politician who was a member of Parliament (MP) and misrepresented to the Department that it had supplied the fleet as well as fleet-related services,” the Hawks said.
Mbambo said a case was registered at the Johannesburg Central police station in October 2020 which prompted investigation by the Hawks.
The suspects will be charged with fraud, theft, contravention of PFMA, and Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA).
-IOL
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