Rustenburg - A former hardware manager was arrested for fraud amounting to over R5 million, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) in the Eastern Cape said.
Spokesperson Warrant Officer Bonnie Nxumalo said James Scolto-Douglas, 50, was arrested on Friday, for numerous counts of fraud.
He appeared in the Gqeberha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court and was released on R5 000 bail. He is facing charges of fraud, theft and contravention of the Companies Act. The case was postponed to May 10.
“It is alleged that the accused was a manager at Buco in Grahamstown [Makhanda] where he stole more than R5m. Between February and September 2018, he allegedly made fraudulent entries in debtors’ account purporting to be for stock sold and transferred cash into his personal bank accounts.”
Nxumalo said an investigation was launched after the fraudulent transactions were discovered.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the Hawks said a traffic officer was arrested for corruption, after he allegedly demanded R10 000 from a motorist to release an impounded vehicle.
Warrant-Officer Nxumalo said Dumisani Mchunu, 44, was released on a R1 000 bail at the Greytown Magistrate's Court on Friday.
"It is alleged that last month, a traffic officer from the local municipality in Greytown, stopped a man driving a suspicious motor vehicle with Gauteng registration plates on Durban Road in Greytown. He allegedly informed him that the vehicle had false registration plates. The vehicle was impounded. It is further alleged that he demanded R10 000 to release the vehicle."
Nxumalo said the matter was reported to the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team and a clandestine operation was conducted.
“Mchunu was arrested on Friday and charged with corruption. He was taken to court on the same day where he was released on bail. The matter was postponed to April 1 and the investigation is continuing.”
IOL