By OBAKENG MAJE

Embattled JB Marks Local Municipality’s executive mayor, Kgotso Khumalo, and Director for Local Economic Development (LED), Cyril Hendry were nabbed by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation on Friday at Potchefstroom.

The Hawks spokesperson in North West, Capt Hlangelani Rikhotso said the duo appeared at the Potchefstroom Magistrate’s Court facing charges of fraud and theft following their arrest on Friday. Rikhotso added that the arrests emanate from investigations into a trust account where a total of approximately R5 million intended for the JB Marks municipality was deposited.

“However, the funds were never declared to the Auditor-General. So, it was discovered through the investigations that a series of payments were allegedly made from the trust into the suspects’ private bank 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,” she said.

Rikhotso said in some instances, funds were allegedly paid into service providers’ accounts for services that were never rendered, thereafter the money would allegedly be collected by the suspects. She further said investigations continue and more arrests cannot be ruled out.

Meanwhile, the case was postponed to 1 December 2020 for further investigation and suspects were released on warning.

“The suspects were ordered to not set foot anywhere near the municipality and not to contact any of the witnesses until the case is concluded,” said Rikhotso.

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