Staff Reporter
Three more suspects have appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court facing charges of defrauding the Free State Department of Human Settlements of about R7.9 million a decade ago.
Senki Samuel Ketlhoilwe, 51, and Thwala Caroline Letanta, 54, as well as Vincent Eric Beans, 55, made their first appearances on Monday facing allegations of fraud, corruption and theft.
Ketlhoilwe was arrested by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team on Saturday while Letanta was arrested the following day and Beans in the early hours of Monday before being taken to court.
It is alleged that between 2011 and 2012, three former officials from the Department of Human Settlements in Bloemfontein, namely Ketlhoilwe, Letanta and Ketlhwoecoeng Mildred Setlaba, 45 – who appeared in court last Thursday – hatched a plan to defraud their employer.
The accused, who were attached to the Payment Authorisation Section, engaged in unauthorised and irregular negotiations with some of the service providers of the department outside their delegation in order to initiate irregular or corrupt activities.
The Hawks provincial spokesperson Captain Christopher Singo said in a statement, they allegedly used the Housing Subsidy System to identify old projects from the 2008 to 2009 financial years as their allocated budgets had not been exhausted.
“They solicited and received gratification in the form of cash from the service providers in exchange for the facilitation of falsified and undue claim payments which were processed through financial processes of the department,” said Singo.
It is further alleged that the three officials received over R520 000 from various service providers.
As a result of these false claims, the Department of Human Settlements suffered a total loss of approximately R7.9 million.
The case against the accused has been postponed to September 3.
Letanta and Beans were released on R2 000 bail each while Ketlhoilwe was released on a R1 500 bail.
The latest court appearance brings to nine the number of accused persons in the matter after Setlaba appeared last week with Motebang Frank Mokoena, 45, Sarah Bantikile Saila, 63, Muso David Makae, 62, Meshack Modise Tlokotsi, 54, and Thato Goodwill Sempe, 50.
They were all released on R5 000 bail.