MBOMBELA – Four former employees of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform will appear in the Nelspruit Regional Court in June.
They stand accused of defrauding the department of R2,95 million. They were also charged with money laundering.
According to a charge sheet provided to Lowvelder, the four accused are Mr Jacob Zenzele Mncwango, Ms Ntokozo Grace Mokoka, Mr Skhumbuzo Nkosi and
Mr Ntokozo Gerald Basil Nkosi. It is alleged that they fabricated a fake service provider to assist the department in developing newly claimed land.
The land was called Endlovini, located at Hermansburg, and was to be developed in favour of 29 households known as the Endlovini Community Project. Money transferred from the department’s bank accounts to the fictitious service provider, was allegedly appropriated to the accused.
The service provider, Sadia Trading CC, was owned and run by Ms Mildred Thandi Mndawe. She was found guilty of money laundering in November 2014. National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Ms Nathi Mncube confirmed that her company had submitted a quote amounting to R2,9 million to the department. It was transferred into her account a few days later. According to a press statement by Mncube, Mndawe was part of a syndicate that defrauded the department. “She was instructed to transfer various amounts to other syndicate members as their share and she was given R250 000,” he said.
The case against Mncwango, Mokoka and both Nkosis was on the Nelspruit Regional Court’s roll earlier this month. Fabricating Sadia Trading CC was only one of the alleged deeds that led to the four being charged in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act. Further charges leveled against them are those of money laundering in that they allegedly transacted with the fraudulently obtained money by transferring their respective shares into different bank accounts. The accused have been out on bail since 2014.
