Third suspect in J.B. Marks case hands himself over

A third suspect charged with theft and fraud in the case of the J.B. Marks municipality handed himself over to the Hawks this morning (26 October). Mohau Shuping (37), the caretaker of the recreation and sports facilities at the municipality, was charged with two cases of theft and two cases of fraud when he appeared in the Potchefstroom Magistrate’s Court.

Both the mayor of J.B Marks, Kgotso Khumalo, and the director of Municipal Services and Local Economic Development, Cyril Henry, have already appeared on charges of theft and fraud on Friday, 23 October.

Capt. Tlangelani Rikhotso, the spokesperson of the Hawks, says Shuping was also released on warning and is also subjected to the same conditions of not setting foot anywhere near the municipality and refraining from making contact with any of the long list of witnesses.

The arrests emanate from a Hawks’ Commercial Crime Investigation that was conducted into a trust account. A total of approximately R5 million intended for the J.B. Marks municipality was deposited, the funds were however never declared to the Auditor-General.

Through investigations, it was discovered that a series of payments were allegedly made from the trust, into the suspects’ private accounts instead.   It is alleged that the funds in the trust were misrepresented to appear as if they were being used to pay for services rendered to the municipality, meanwhile invoices were allegedly being falsified.

In some instances, funds were allegedly paid into service providers’ accounts for services that were never rendered, thereafter the money would be collected by the suspects. The three suspects’ next appearance in the Potchefstroom Magistrate’s Court will be on Monday, 1 December.