Hawks nab four in alleged R1.8m youth entrepreneurs scam
Four people and three companies face fraud, theft and money laundering charges after allegedly pocketing R1.8 million for a Northern Cape youth entrepreneurs conference, where no services were allegedly rendered.
Image: Supplied / Hawks
THE HAWKS’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team arrested four people and charged three companies in connection with a multimillion-rand conference for young entrepreneurs in the Northern Cape, where no services were allegedly rendered.
Hawks Northern Cape spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Tebogo Thebe said the accused – Kevin Darryl Christians, 61, Benton Sithebe, 40, Portia Louw, 46, and Irene Botlhoko, 60 – were arrested and made a brief appearance before the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court on September 16.
He stated that the charges included fraud, theft and money laundering.
“It is alleged that the Northern Cape Provincial Youth Chamber of Commerce and Industry approached the Northern Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism in June 2018 to request financial assistance to enable them to host a conference to develop young entrepreneurs in the province.”
Thebe indicated that the department allocated R1.8 million, where service providers Exilite Travel Agency, which served as the paymaster, allocated payments to two other companies, B&E Suppliers CC and MTM Motseme (Pty) Ltd, for services that were allegedly never rendered.
“Christians is employed at the Northern Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism,” said Thebe.
He added that all the accused were granted R10,000 bail while the matter was postponed until October 17 for further investigation.