Four suspects appeared in the Rustenburg Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 29 July 2024, for alleged fraud and money laundering.
The accused were arrested by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption in collaboration with the Cash-in-Transit Task Team on 27 and 28 July 2024. They were arrested in Rustenburg, Vereeniging, and Pretoria.
In July 2022, the Bojanala Platinum District Municipality reportedly registered a fraud case following an internal audit that uncovered irregularities with payments to a mobile network provider. The audit allegedly discovered a loss of R1.7 million suffered by the municipality, which occurred between 2017 and 2020.
Upon conducting an investigation, the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation established that the municipality suffered a loss of over R3.8 million, which was paid to a fraudulent account. It was further established that the fraudulent account belonged to Matsempe Holdings (Pty) Ltd, which Sello Molefe, the former employee of the municipality, is the sole director.
Further probe revealed that over R1.4 million was transferred from Matsempe Holdings (Pty) Ltd to Remoikantse Trading and Projects (Pty) Ltd, which Sibusiso Mogale, the former employee of the municipality, is the sole director. The two former employees reportedly worked in the Information Technology department. It was further revealed during the investigation that the municipality was allegedly billed over R675 000-00 by Remoikantse Trading and Projects (Pty) Ltd.
Investigation also established that Sello Molefe transferred money from his company’s bank account into the bank accounts of his two family members, Thabo Molefe and Mmabatho Modiba-Molefe. As a result, the municipality suffered a loss of R4.4 million. Following an investigation, a warrant of arrest was issued against the four suspects and was executed over the weekend.