A man was arrested by members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) on November 22 and his accomplice, an inmate, was also charged for impersonating the City of Joburg’s fraud and corruption buster, Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya.
Executive mayor, Clr Herman Mashaba said it is alleged the pair contacted Mbali McClare, who has a case pending with the city, with an offer to ‘make her case disappear’ in return for R150 000.
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“It is said the inmate is the mastermind behind the crime,” Mashaba said. “He contacted McClare and introduced himself as Major-General Shadrack Sibiya.”
According to Mashaba, McClare is a former candidate valuer who was arrested earlier this year for deliberately undervaluing 22 properties in the city amounting to just under R500-million.
“The fraudulent adjustments and changes in the market values of these properties by invalid municipal objection outcome letters resulted in the loss of an estimated R40-million worth of revenue for Joburg over five financial years,” said Mashaba.
McClare was arrested following an investigation by the city’s Group Forensic Investigation Services (GFIS) department.
After receiving the phone call from the inmate, McClare contacted the Hawks, who then contacted GFIS, and a sting operation was set up for the suspect to collect the money in Midrand.
“The trap led to the arrest of the suspect who then revealed that he was working with an inmate,” Mashaba said.
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“A phone call was then made by the suspect to the inmate informing him that he received R75 000; the inmate then instructed that the suspect take R30 000 and take R45 000 to his wife in Soshanguve.”
The Hawks then paid a visit to the inmate’s wife, who confirmed that she was expecting R45 000 from her husband.
The wife then led the Hawks to the prison where her husband is detained.
A cellphone which was used in the perpetration of the crime was seized from the inmate.
The two suspects appeared in the Johannesburg Commercial Crimes Court on charges of fraud and corruption.
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