Trio to appear in court in University of Fort Hare fraud case
Three people face charges of fraud, money laundering and corruption in connection with two fraudulent schemes that drained more than R2m from the University of Fort Hare’s bank account.
Three accused, who are linked to a multi-million-rand fraud and money laundering scheme at the University of Fort Hare, were granted bail earlier this week and are due to again appear in court today.
This is according to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), which says the three were arrested in a breakthrough against corruption in the education sector by the East London-based Serious Corruption Investigation team.
Former Acting Chief Financial Officer Simbongile Geqeza (41), former Head of Investigation and Vetting Isaac Plaartjies (57) and family friend Claudine Davids (44) appeared in the Alice Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, where they faced charges of fraud, money laundering and corruption.
“The arrests follow a detailed investigation by the Serious Corruption Investigation of the Hawks, which uncovered two fraudulent schemes that drained university funds amounting to more than R2m,” the Hawks said in a statement on Wednesday.
The first case dates back to September 2, 2021, when Geqeza allegedly issued a fraudulent instruction to a bank, authorising an illegal payment of R1.4m to a company with no legitimate ties to the university.
The scheme was exposed when university management noticed financial discrepancies and reported the matter to the Hawks.
“During the meticulous investigation conducted by the Hawks, a second fraudulent transaction was uncovered, involving a payment of R985 000 to a service provider for investigative services that were never rendered.
“Furthermore, the service provider allegedly claimed to have assisted the Hawks during the university investigation, even though no services [were] being provided. This payment was allegedly facilitated by Plaartjies in collaboration with the claimant and the funds were allegedly funnelled to Davids.”
The suspects were arrested in various places in the country during a co-ordinated Hawks operation on Tuesday.
The court granted each accused bail of R10 000.
“The case has been postponed to [today] for further investigation.” – SAnews.gov.za
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Read original story on www.citizen.co.za
