More arrests expected soon in SASSA scam

More arrests are expected following that of a King William’s Town man accused of defrauding the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) out of more than R1m.
More arrests are expected following that of a King William’s Town man accused of defrauding the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) out of more than R1m.
Image: FILE

More arrests are expected following that of a King William’s Town man accused of defrauding the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) out of more than R1m.

The 51-year-old man from Kwatyutyu in King William’s Town was arrested by the Hawks on Friday.

He will appear at the Zwelitsha regional court on Monday. R1.2m was apparently taken.

According to Hawks spokesperson Lwando Zenzile, the suspect allegedly recruited community members in King William’s Town, Bhisho and Zwelitsha to supply him with identity numbers, which he then  provided to Sassa officials.

The officials then allegedly created disability grants on behalf of the people whose identity numbers they had received. However, these people only received half the grant payment and the rest of the money allegedly went to the arrested man and others.

This occurred between August 2018 and September 2019, according to the Hawks.

The Hawks’s serious corruption crime investigation unit and SAPS crime Intelligence worked together on the investigation,  Zenzile said.

“The investigating team established that, after the money got loaded into individual accounts, the suspect [allegedly] made withdrawals to give the so-called beneficiaries half of the money and the rest was shared among him and the officials,” he said.

Zenzile said further arrests were expected soon. — DDR


subscribe

Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.