The Hawks from the Pietermaritzburg Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Unit on Tuesday arrested Raj Gopi (59), Radharukmoney Gopi (61) and Harichans Rampersad (61) for fraud, money laundering as well as the contravention of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962.

It is alleged that the accused colluded and defrauded the Department of Education in KZN through the cover quote.

They allegedly created fictitious enterprises through which they engaged in cover quoting, as a result, legislated procurement processes were evaded to guarantee the award of various contracts to enterprises of the syndicate.

An amount of more than R85m was paid by the department during the 2012/2013 and 2016/2017 financial years.

A case of fraud was reported at the Pietermaritzburg Police Station and the case docket was allocated to the Hawks for further investigation.

Through intensive and prosecution-guided investigation, the accused were arrested and charged accordingly.

They briefly appeared in the Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court and were remanded in custody. The case was postponed to July 10 and more arrests are expected.