Cape Town - A 36-year-old man is expected to appear at the Bishop Lavis Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday and faces charges of theft, fraud, perjury, and forgery.
The man, who is employed at the Lavistown Post Office as an administrator, is alleged to have siphoned funds from grant beneficiaries worth R200 000.
This comes after his arrest by members attached to the Provincial Commercial Crime Investigation Unit (Banking and Electronic Group) on Monday at the Post Office where he works.
According to the provincial police spokesperson Captain Frederick van Wyk, the crime was perpetrated in May.
“During the month of May 2022, South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) funds that had not been collected by the approved recipients amounting to R200 000 were to be returned to the Post Office bank account and to be collected by the relevant private security company.
“During the normal course of business, he would be required to complete the relevant deposit slip, a collection slip by the private security company, and endorse this in the relevant register of the Post Office to indicate the banking of the uncollected funds.
“It is alleged that the suspect then made forged entries into these registers, indicating that the funds were indeed collected by the security company and deposited into the post office bank account, whereas this was not done,” van Wyk said.
The matter was assigned to the Provincial Commercial Crime Investigation Unit for further probing, and witness statements were obtained, which resulted in a prima facie case being investigated in support of the allegations brought to light.
Van Wyk confirmed the suspect would be making his first court appearance at the Bishop Lavis Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
However, further investigation into this matter has revealed more shocking details.
“The Provincial Commercial Crime Investigation, upon further investigation, identified a further case involving approximately R500 000, using the same modus operandi. The investigation continues,” van Wyk added.