A father and his daughter, who allegedly defrauded the Eastern Cape Department of Education to the tune of R4.3m, were arrested in Port Shepstone and Shelly Beach respectively on Tuesday.

According to Hawks spokesperson, Captain Yolisa Mgolodela, the father (51) and daughter (22) appeared in the Zwelitsha Magistrate’s Court in the Eastern Cape on Wednesday this week.

Mgolodela said the pair appeared in court for charges of fraud, forgery, and uttering (putting forged money into circulation).

The two were arrested by the East London Hawks Serious Corruption Investigation team in KwaZulu-Natal.

“It is alleged that in May 2020, the two companies represented by their directors defrauded the Eastern Cape Department of Education by submitting fraudulent lease agreements, claiming to have offices in the Eastern Cape province. The father was a company director and his daughter was also a sole director in her company. Due to this misrepresentation, the two companies were awarded the tender meant for Eastern Cape aspiring business people,” said Mgolodela.

She added that the matter was reported to the Hawks and the investigation revealed that the department was defrauded by around R4.3 million, maybe more.