The Hawks have made an arrest.
Felix Dlangamandla, Gallo Images, Netwerk24
A Mpumalanga couple allegedly defrauded their own game lodge business by issuing fake invoices and pocketing the cash.
Sibusiso Tshabalala, 41, and Ntombizodwa Tshabalala, 32, were released on R5 000 bail each following their brief appearance in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
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According to Hawks spokesperson Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi, the couple was arrested on Tuesday by members of the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Unit in connection with fraud, forgery and money laundering.
“The accused, who own Bundu Lodge in partnership with a third party, allegedly created and submitted fraudulent invoices purported to be owed by the lodge in September 2018,” Sekgotodi said.
“The invoices amounting to over R200 000 were for services that were never rendered and the money was allegedly paid into their personal accounts without the knowledge of the third partner.”
The transactions were discovered during an inspection by the partner who engaged the Hawks for an investigation that linked the couple to the missing loot.
The case has been postponed to 22 September.
