30

Ovation curators to sue Metropolitan 1

The curators of Ovation Global Investments plan to sue Metropolitan Life, a subsidiary of Metropolitan Holdings (JSE:MET) for an amount of at least R47m. This amount was stolen from Metropolitan clients as part of a broader scandal involving theft and fraud at Ovation and Fidentia.

SACP ‘donor’ Modise in court for R35m tender fraud 2

Charles Modise, a Malawian businessman arrested for alleged tender fraud to the tune of R35 million in Northern Cape, appeared in the Kimberley magistrate’s court yesterday.

25

Malawi power chief arrested

Blantyre - Malawi's anti-corruption agency has arrested the head of the country's power generating company over allegations of graft, officials said on Thursday.

A spokesperson for the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) said Kandi Padambo, chief executive officer of the electricity supply commission of Malawi (Escom), was arrested late Wednesday in the commercial capital Blantyre and would face charges of "misuse of public office and failure to disclose interest."
 

Prosecutors have said about $92-million (R605-million) were lost through fraud and corruption from 1994 to 2004, when Muluzi was in power.

Credit card fraud on the increase, warns Absa

Fraudulent credit card transactions have cost SA business between R25-million and R40-million in the past 18 months - and that is only what has been reported so far, according to Abbie Milton from Absa Bank's card merchant services.

Scab boss held

The man accused of defrauding almost 200 pensioners and deserting them on Cape Town Station has appeared in court on a charge of fraud.

Patrick Ramano, chief executive of Senior Citizens Advisory Bureau (Scab), a non-governmental organisation, was arrested on Tuesday at the luxury Cape Town Waterfront.

24

Court clerk nabbed for fraud

A Pietermaritzburg court clerk was arrested after being linked to 178 counts of theft and fraud, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Wednesday.

Spokesperson Inspector Joey Jeevan said a special task team arrested the 38-year-old woman at the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate's Court on Tuesday after months of intensive investigations.

FSB to get teeth to enforce its rulings

CAPE TOWN — The Financial Services Board (FSB) plans to strengthen its grip by introducing enforcement tribunals able to impose administrative penalties and retrieve investors’ money lost in reckless or fraudulent schemes.

23

U.S. cannot account for Iraq contract

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The State Department does not know specifically what it received for a billion-dollar contract with security firm DynCorp International to provide training services for Iraqi police, a U.S. watchdog agency said on Tuesday.

The Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) said it was forced to suspend its audit of the DynCorp contract after administration officials told investigators they had no confidence in their own accounting records.

22

Manguang corruption case postponed

The former mayor of Manguang in the Free State, Papi Mokoena, had his corruption case postponed on Monday, SABC news reported.

21

Ithala loans practice to be probed

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) has called for independent forensic investigations into allegedly irregular, tax-funded loans awarded by Ithala Development Finance Corporation to "related parties", including its boss, Sipho Nyembezi.

Phishing: Do not be fooled, customers warned

The technology may be new, but fraudsters still use an age-old trick on the Internet: creating a sense of false confidence.

Since the advent of the Internet, criminals have used it to line their pockets. Despite warnings, thousands still fall victim, especially as new users flock to use services such as banking and shopping.

Fresh scams are hatched daily and currently a favoured method is phishing.

SA scores badly in fraud survey

New study shows that white-collar crime is rampant and visible — once you start looking for it, writes Richard Stovin-Bradford.

The more companies try to root out economic crime, the more shocking the statistics will appear.

This is one conclusion of a global survey by professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

PwC partner Louis Strydom said: “The more controls you have, the more incidences you’ll have. If you do not look, you do not see. Conversely, once you know what to look for and go looking for it, you are more likely to find it.

20

Travel scam: MPs neglect to pay up

MPs owe Parliament more than half the R17,2-million lost in the Travelgate scam but so far Parliament has recovered only a fraction of its missing millions.

According to Parliament's annual report, liquidators have established that MPs, former MPs and their associates owe more than R9,4-million. The rest is owed by other parties.

19

Scorpions investigate KZN Agriculture department

KwaZulu-Natal’s agriculture department is being investigated by the Scorpions, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirmed.

NPA spokesman Tlali Tlali said there was an investigation taking place amid allegations of fraud and corruption.

18

Johannesburg council confirms fraud scam

The city of Johannesburg has uncovered a scheme where a "close corporation" issued the city's customers with fraudulent cut-off warnings and requested payment of outstanding balances, the city said on Wednesday.

The city said the scam required people to pay their municipal accounts into a Standard Bank account and promised to restore disconnected services.

17

Telkom loses R350m through fraud

Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri told the National Assembly on Wednesday that the state-owned telecommunications giant Telkom has lost R350-million over three years through fraud.

Face to Face - crime (Podcast)

It’s common knowledge that South Africa has a crime problem, but how does South Africa rate on white collar crime? Summit Business TV speaks to Jabu Mahlangu from PWC

Cast stones if you’re squeaky clean

Moneyweb readers are fine upstanding citizens and are infuriated by the many tales of crookedness, corruption and fraud that it is our duty to publish.

Judging by the comments at the bottom of crime and fraud stories, I reckon we could round up a lynch mob in no time.

Many were incensed by this week's PWC biannual economic crime survey that found that 71% of SA companies surveyed were defrauded of more than $10 000 last year.

We all feel terribly indignant when this official or that businessperson is accused of corruption, fraud and theft.

But before we cast stones, perhaps we should look at ourselves.

40 Cisco employees arrested

40 Cisco employees have been arrested by Brazilian authorities, as part of a massive tax fraud investigation. Police and tax authorities say that Cisco's Brazilian unit has imported £250 million worth of telecommunications and network equipment over the last five years without properly paying import duties. In all, it is claimed that the company owes an estimated 1.5 billion reais (£410 million) in taxes, fines and interest.

16

Corruption is rife in British business

Britain is becoming a hotspot for corruption and bribery and the number of British companies affected by economic fraud in the past two years is almost twice the global average, according to a report released today by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

More corporate fraud emerging in SA: survey

South African companies reported an average of 23 cases of fraud during the past two years, with each organisation losing an average of over R7,4-million in that period, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

This was a 110 percent increase on the number of fraud cases reported by SA companies in 2005, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) 4th biennial Global Economic Crime Survey.

Nortel Pays $35 Million to Settle Fraud Charges

Nortel and its principal subsidiary, Nortel Networks Limited, will pay $35 million to settle civil fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission and will take steps to prevent fraud in the future, the S.E.C. and the company said Monday.

UCB official to hear fate later

JOHANNESBURG – The former general manager for finance and administration of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, Diteko Modise, was in court yesterday to hear whether it would be accepted that he had been made a scapegoat, or whether he would be convicted of multi-million-rand fraud.

15

Mpumalanga housing fraudster sentenced

Nelspruit - A Mpumalanga housing contractor has been sentenced to three years imprisonment for defrauding the provincial Local Government and Housing Department of R100 000.

Surprise Mphokane of Mamosuthu Construction, defrauded the department of R102 061 and has been sentenced to three years imprisonment suspended for five years

The department said that Mr Mphokane was appointed to build 25 Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses in the Thaba Chweu municipality but he "claimed for work that was not done".

Russian firm ‘world hub’ for crime sites

One Russian company has become a world hub for sites specialising in kiddie porn, spamming and identity theft, say computer security experts quoted by the Washington Post.

And the Russians have provided little help in efforts to shut down the company, it says.

The Russian Business Network, “sells Web site hosting to people engaged in criminal activity,” says the story, going on:

Millions saved by preventing social grant fraud

Government has in the past year saved R213 million by preventing fraudulent social grant payouts. The investigation by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) into fraud, corruption and maladministration that plagued the social grant system has -- since it started in 2005 -- prevented R690 million from being paid out to fraudulent claimants, its head Willie Hofmeyr said today.

Investigating unit saved government billions - Skweyiya

INVESTIGATIONS into fraud, corruption and maladministration in SA’s social grant system have saved government about R7,7bn since inception, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya said today.

Name of former education official cleared

Former Western Cape education personnel head Mogamat Kashief Galant was on Monday acquitted on corruption and fraud charges.

The case in the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crime Court arose from the plight of a group of contract teachers in Oudtshoorn, who received their monthly salaries up to two weeks late.

Liberty Life alerts consumers to increased risk of identity theft

CONSUMERS are at increased risk of identity theft, opening the way for an attack on their bank accounts, investments and credit card accounts, says leading life assurer Liberty Life.

Unfortunately, public awareness of the risk remains low, according to Andrew Jacobs, Group Executive - Risk, at Liberty Life.

Scorpions, FSB chase up Leaderguard

THE four main players in the Leaderguard investment scam that left 1700 investors, mostly South African pensioners, more than $57m out of pocket could be prosecuted.

13

Employees obliged to blow the whistle on dishonest colleagues

People have a tendency to resist getting involved in matters that do not affect them directly.

Not many employees are willing to report the wrongdoing of their fellow employees. Whatever the reasons, this makes it difficult for employers to eradicate illegal or dishonest practices in the workplace.

Can an employer discipline an employee for failing or refusing to disclose information about the illegal activities of a colleague? On one hand there is legislation such as the Prevention & Combating of Corrupt Activities Act of 2004, which provides that senior members of management must report to the SAPS instances of theft, fraud or corruption involving an amount in excess of R100000. Failure to do so constitutes a criminal offence.

School receives jam, butter but no bread

HUNDREDS of children at a Nelson Mandela Bay primary school are receiving bountiful government supplies of jam and butter – but have not received any bread to put it on for the past five months.

The bungle – caused by the collapse of the Eastern Cape‘s School Nutrition Programme (SNP) – has left pupils at Despatch Primary School hungry and unable to concentrate on their schoolwork.

The supplies have been building up at the school and the education department has now told the principal to give the stock of butter and jam away to children.

The Scorpions are probing the SNP in the province after a forensic audit uncovered massive corruption behind the collapse of the R230-million programme since August.

12

Tip-off leads to seizure of bank cards

More than 100 suspected cloned bank cards were seized and three people arrested at Durban International Airport this week.

And now police from the project investigation team of Durban's commercial branch are working with bank officials to retrieve the account details on the cards so they can ascertain if the cards have been used and the accounts plundered.

NPA must rehire corrupt official

Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla has asked the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to reinstate its former deputy director and convicted fraudster Cornwell Tshavhungwa, in an apparent move to reassert her authority over the institution.

11

Insurers battle to stem tide of fraudulent claims

Johannesburg - The value of fraudulent claims submitted to life insurers across the country increased from R99.5 million in the first six months of last year to R122.3 million in the year to June, the Life Offices' Association (LOA) said yesterday.

But life companies had reported a reduction in the number of fraudulent life claims. These had dropped from 1 651 to 654 in the same period.

Two SABC employees on 'special leave'

Two Lesedi FM managers have been put on special leave to prepare for an internal disciplinary hearing, the SABC said on Thursday.

Spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the action against Lesedi radio station manager Pula Pula Mothibi and programmes manager Wire Khaoli was taken after an internal audit.

The probe into alleged mismanagement at the station ended in two presenters facing criminal charges.

The two are Thuso and Mmamontha Motaung who have been charged with fraud and corruption.

Their trial is scheduled to begin in March in the Johannesburg Commercial Crimes Court.

10

Travelgate: two remaining MPs may make a deal

CAPE TOWN — An African National Congress MP and a former Democratic Alliance MP, the last remaining parliamentarians facing charges in the R24m Travelgate scam, could still reach a plea bargain with the Scorpions before their next appearance in court in December.

Conveyancing secretary jailed
 

An attorneys' conveyancing secretary who worked her way up from temporary jobs to a permanent position of trust, was on Wednesday jailed for five years on 89 fraud charges involving more than R400 000.

Denise Lillian Kidd, 48, appeared in the Bellville Commercial Court, before magistrate Amrith Chabilall, who authorised the prison authorities to release her into house arrest when - in their opinion - the time for her release was right.

Kidd wept as she told the court of her addiction to gambling, and how it had landed her in severe debt with an unnamed "loan shark".

Kenya: World Bank Boss Takes Graft War to Accountants (Kenya)

World Bank country director Colin Bruce is accusing accountants of complicity in a pending bills fraud that would have cost the taxpayer nearly Sh90 billion.

Mr Bruce claims the fraud - in which contractors and other suppliers filed claims for phantom deliveries-was abetted through negligence and conspiracy by accounting officers both in the Government and the contracting firms.
 

7

'I will not ask Mbeki'

Four independent legal experts are to scrutinise the Scorpions' case against police commissioner Jackie Selebi to help stand-in National Director of Public Prosecutions, Mokotedi Mpshe, make his crucial decision on whether South Africa's top cop should go on trial.

A warrant for Selebi's arrest was cancelled late last week, pending this review of the Scorpions' probe into Selebi for possible criminal charges that could include corruption, fraud, defeating the ends of justice and racketeering.

6

Nine in court over fraud probe

Nine people appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court yesterday in connection with the Scorpions’ investigations at the Mangaung Local Municipality.

They face charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering which is linked to the pending case against former mayor Pappie Mokoena, his wife Granny and various other former senior officials.

One of the nine, who appeared in court, was released on a warning while the rest were granted bail of between R10,000 and R30,000.

World's largest 'diamond' denounced as plastic fake

After more than a month of speculation, the "world's largest diamond", said to be twice the size of the famous Cullinan diamond, was on Friday denounced as a "piece of plastic" by the man at the centre of the drama over its discovery.

Accusing former associates of a scam, a British property developer, Brett Jolly -- who thought he was going to be fabulously rich as a result of the find -- said he was going to lodge a complaint with the police.

5

Keep an eye on SIM cards

Police have arrested corrupt staff employed in cellphone shops in connection with illegal SIM card swapping.

“Cellphone service providers are working closely with SAPS to identify the staff members involved in assisting with unauthorised SIM swaps,” says police spokesman director Phuti Setati. The corrupt staff members are in cahoots with phishers and other cyber criminals.

"SIM swaps are done in order to obtain passwords and access codes sent from banks to their clients via cellphone, to enable legitimate clients to transfer money on the Internet from their account to other accounts,” says Setati.

Investigations into KZN health boss completed

Investigations into allegations of fraud against the KwaZulu-Natal provincial health department head have been completed and the report has been forwarded to the province’s premier, the provincial director general Kwazi Mbanjwa said on Friday.

KwaZulu-Natal premier Sbu Ndebele announced on September 19 that provincial health superintendent Busi Nyembezi had taken “voluntary leave.

Shady tax deals

Sars is going over old ground. Your offshore tax skeletons may come back to haunt you

Through the dark days of apartheid and beyond, an industry thrived on ingenious ways to minimise its clients' tax obligations. Some of SA's blue-chip banks, as well as more dubious financial boutiques, were involved. But now those secrets are tumbling out in a number of high-profile public hearings. They provide a rare insight into the financial wizardry involved - and the SA Revenue Service 's (Sars) efforts to clamp down on them.

The desperate bid to shield Selebi

New information has emerged which flatly contradicts the presidency’s denial that President Thabo Mbeki acted to shield police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi by suspending National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli.

Information obtained by the Mail & Guardian shows that Pikoli’s suspension marked the beginning of a scramble to protect Selebi, which saw acting prosecutions director Mokotedi Mpshe -- appointed by Mbeki as Pikoli’s replacement -- make two late-night interventions to prevent moves against Selebi from going ahead.

Waiters held for skimming cards

Police have arrested nine waiters at a Canal Walk eatery after uncovering a syndicate skimming credit cards.

The eight men and lone woman had been arrested by the commercial crime branch, said police spokesperson Randall Stoffels.

Stoffels said they had used a skimming device and cloned credit cards to push through false transactions and take cash out of the cash registers.

4

Media24 comes clean

Media24 confirmed on Wednesday that five Touchline Media magazines inflated their circulation figures between July 2005 and June 2007 and that three senior managers including managing director Marc Blachowitz resigned in connection with the irregularities.

Fidentia curators likely to strike deal with NPA

Curators of embattled asset management company, Fidentia, say they are discussing a possible deal with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), which may result in the alleged kingpin behind the scandal, Steven Goodwin, returning to South Africa.

Chile judge orders arrest of Pinochet family

A Chilean judge on Thursday ordered the arrest of the widow and five children of late dictator Augusto Pinochet as part of an investigation into allegations of corruption, judicial sources said.

Cotton tells his side of the story

As much as R30-million of FNB clients' money could have passed through a bank account set up in the name of Clinton Cotton's wife, but only about half of that was allegedly misappropriated by Cotton.

During his bail application in the Commercial Crimes Court on Wednesday, Cotton, a financial adviser with FNB, said the money he "supposedly used" amounted to about R12,5-million to R13-million.

In what has been described as one of the worst months in media giant Media24's history, the focus turns to how to deal with the fallout and how to prevent such a damaging scandal to the entire magazine publishing industry from ever happening again. Was it the fault of organisational culture? The increasing competition in the magazine marketplace, or just fraud on the part of a few individuals?

US battling to stop international fraud scams

United States law enforcement agencies and their global partners are battling to stop international fraud scams which are ripping off unsuspecting citizens to the tune of millions of dollars.

Victims are asked to deposit fraudulent cheques into their bank accounts, and transfer a certain percentage to the accounts they are given by fraudsters. The scam is believed to have originated in Nigeria.

LeisureNet duo sweats as judge ponders seizure

Peter Gardener and Rod Mitchell will have to sweat it out after Acting Judge Dirk Uijs, who sentenced the former LeisureNet joint chief executives to jail terms earlier this year, yesterday reserved judgment on the Asset Forfeiture Unit's application to seize proceeds of the fraud for which they were convicted.

03

Home affairs officials bust for fraud

Two employees of the Department of Home Affairs were granted bail by the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court following their arrest for allegedly obtaining cash from foreign nationals, police said on Wednesday.

The two, and two accomplices, were arrested on Tuesday, following a tip-off from people who had paid money to obtain South African identity documents.

Fidentia duo in court

Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown and financial director Graham Maddock appeared briefly in the Cape Town magistrates court on Wednesday.

The case was postponed to December 7 for a regional court date, and for the state to give the defence teams a charge sheet.

The appearance follows their rearrest in August on fresh fraud and theft charges.

In a separate case, they were joined in the dock by Piet Bothma, the suspended chief executive of the Transport Education Training Authority.

New scandal rocks Bhisho

Auditor-General can’t exclude collusion, fraud and corruption

THE Eastern Cape auditor-general has delivered damning reports on two key provincial departments, raising alarm over the irregular expenditure of billions of rands of taxpayers’ money.

Shaik done, all eyes back on Zuma

Prosecutors investigating former deputy president Jacob Zuma have said that Tuesday's constitutional ruling against Schabir Shaik will affect their probe.

Constitutional Court judges on Tuesday ruled that Shaik's appeal against his corruption and fraud convictions stood no realistic chance of success and that his 15-year jail term stood

IT security suspension

Home Affairs clears out 189 officials

02

Hoax e-mails full of errors

There was a probability that the hoax e-mails for which former spy boss Billy Masetlha and his two co-accused are alleged to have fabricated, were created by an amateur, the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court heard on Tuesday.

State witness Daniel Myburgh said, on his second day of testifying, that the e-mails he was tasked with investigating, had technical mistakes, like double brackets, which an expert would have spotted.

Suspended Scorpions boss rejects free lawyer

Former Scorpions boss Geoffrey Ledwaba has refused to be represented by a lawyer from the Legal Aid Board. He has appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on charges of corruption, theft and fraud.

01

Former Lesedi presenters' fraud trial postponed

The fraud and corruption case against former Lesedi FM presenter Thuso Motaung and his wife Mmamontha, has been postponed in the Johannesburg Commercial Crimes Court to March 3 next year.

Pyramid queen Clifford due in PE court today, also charged in Bloem

EMBATTLED investment queen Maureen Clifford will appear in the Port Elizabeth High Court today for the next session in the marathon case against her and her failed investment empire, Usapho Trust.

On Friday, Clifford appeared briefly in the Port Elizabeth regional court on new charges of fraud linked to a case involving R10-million in Bloemfontein.

Scorpions prosecuting advocate Johan Roothman confirmed that Clifford had been arrested in East London on Friday by the Scorpions and that she had been released on bail of R3 000.

“These are completely separate charges from those she is facing regarding the Usapho Trust, and she will have to appear in Bloemfontein on November 19,” he said.