72-year-old woman arrested for alleged R10m pension fund fraud

A 72-year-old woman is expected to appear in the Dundee Magistrate’s Court in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) on Wednesday, 28 October 2020 for alleged fraud amounting to R10 million.

According to police spokesperson Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo, Nana Mthembu was arrested by the Serious Commercial Crime Investigation unit on Tuesday, 27 October 2020.

The woman is an employee of Tovasize/Donafin pension fund tracing company situated in Vryheid, Mhlongo confirmed.

“The accused allegedly lured the victims to provide cash and open files in order to receive unclaimed surplus pension funds from government departments and ex-employers,” Mhlongo said.

He said an investigation conducted by the Hawks revealed that none of the victims received any pension funds and the accused defrauded the victims.

Tovasize/Donafin owner Sean Westcott was arrested for fraud in February 2019 and the company was ordered to stop operations.

The 72 year old is expected to appear in court along with her co-accused, Westcott, who is out on bail.

Former municipality director in court for corruption

A 44-year-old former technical services director of the Lekwa-Teemane Local Municipality in North West has been served with a subpoena to appear in court on corruption charges.

According to Hawks spokesperson Captain Tlangelani Rikhotso, in May 2014 the former director singlehandedly took on supply chain processes by sourcing quotations and invoices from service providers and then recommended and approved payments for his office furniture.

“The transaction was finalised in one day and approximately R504 143 was paid to the service provider. The suspect is expected to make his first appearance in the Christiana Magistrate’s Court on 20 November,” Rikhotso said.

Additional reporting from News24 Wire

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