KZN fraud probe
Wonder Hlongwa
Senior government officials in KwaZulu- Natal could soon face prosecution for their alleged involvement in a fraudulent cheque scam involving millions of rands.
The province’s deputy attorney general, Chris de Klerk, said the police investigation into the matter is finished. Police have told him they will hand him the docket for a decision to prosecute within the next few days.
De Klerk said the investigation took more than a year because police had to verify aspects of a statement made by Durban businessman Sateesh Isseri. “Isseri’s statement has shed new light on the investigation,” said De Klerk.
Last August, Isseri made a statement to the police which implicated senior Inkatha Freedom Party officials in a scam to transfer money from government coffers to the party. Isseri has been in the witness protection programme for a year since he alerted the auditor general to the alleged scheme. He claimed he had tendered for a government contract and had been introduced to senior IFP officials who said they needed his help in an attempt to secede from South Africa.
His police statement claims senior government officials gave him unauthorised cheques worth more than R1- million and instructed him to dispense the money in cash to other officials.
“Now we have to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to prosecute. That is why quite a long time lapsed,” said De Klerk. However, he would not disclose the names of the suspects, other than saying: “They are government officials.”