The senior state prosecutor at the Potchefstroom magistrates’ court, Adv. Eileen Viljoen has reopened the Choppies fraud case dealing with the J.B. Marks municipal food parcel account.
The account at the store was intended for funeral assistance for indigent families in the municipality. Choppies’ head office detected fraudulent activity on the account, which led to the dismissal of the Potchefstroom Choppies’ branch- and administrative managers in May. A J.B. Marks official is also implicated in the fraud case.
The Herald reported in its edition of 5 July 2018 that Col Adéle Myburgh, the NW SAPS spokesperson had stated that the case had been investigated and had been closed. She went on to say that ‘the senior state prosecutor has recommended that the case should be closed as there is no chance of a successful prosecution.’
Recently, Adv. Viljoen obtained the case docket and instructed that the case be re-opened and a thorough investigation is done. After this, the case docket must be submitted to her for a decision. Adv. Viljoen has communicated with the SAPS and the lines of communication have been confirmed. They will be adhered to by all roleplayers in the future.
The Herald apologises to the senior state prosecutor, Adv. Viljoen for printing information, furnished by the SAPS, about her conduct when she had not made the decision and was never approached for any input.
Close to R400 000 involved in the Choppies case
The Choppies fraud case attracted attention after a tip-off from a community member. The Herald has now been reliably informed that the cash involved amounted to R397 632.
According to a reliable source, the municipality deposited money into the account every month. The problems arose when a municipal official started collecting the balance in cash payments at month end.
‘This had been happening since June last year. The irregularities were detected in March and reported to head office. The cash collected over the ten-month period allegedly amounted to hundreds of thousands. The two employees were dismissed after due process was followed,’ said the source.
The Herald could not determine where the cash went to after the official had collected it.
Still no response from the municipality on investigations
The acting municipal manager, Cyril Henry told the North West Legislature portfolio committee on local government that, a day or two after the Herald published the first article, his office had launched an investigation into what had actually transpired. He was supposed to have received the report in June.
Five weeks ago, the Herald sent a media enquiry to the municipality regarding the outcome of the investigations. To this day, however, no response has been issued.
*The Herald is still following this story.
https://www.citizen.co.za/potchefstroom-herald/48441/choppies-fires-two-managers-j-b-marks-food-parcels-account/
https://www.citizen.co.za/potchefstroom-herald/48965/choppies-case-no-reaction-jb-marks-municipality-protect-integrity/
