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S.AFRICA :Bail denied government ‘fraudsters’
The
Pretoria regional court yesterday refused to grant bail to six men
accused of defrauding suppliers of equipment to the Agricultural
Department.Department spokesman Steve Galane said the men were arrested
by the Scorpions following the uncovering of a syndicate which has been
defrauding suppliers for the past five years.The amount of
money involved is said to run into millions of rands.“The syndicate
seems to be operating in various areas around the country and makes use
of fraudulently-generated supply orders, using the name of the
department,” said Galane.He said the syndicate’s modus operandi was not
always the same. “Our suppliers were contacted for quotations for the
delivery of tangible items such as toner cartridges, computers,
laptops, etc. They were then contacted and issued with a fraudulent
order for the delivery of the above-mentioned items.“The syndicate will
contact regional offices of the department under the pretext that they
are officials from headquarters in Pretoria.“They requested officials
in the regional offices to accept the goods that were fraudulently
ordered from suppliers, with the understanding that the goods will be
distributed in the relevant province,” Galane said.“The syndicate will
then normally arrange that a courier service pick up the goods whilst
the supplier is under the impression that the goods have been delivered
at the offices of the department.”He said another scheme that
is currently being used by the fraudsters involved fraudulent cheques
being paid into the accounts of suppliers.“Suppliers are then informed
by means of a fraudulent letterhead of the department that the payment
made into their bank accounts was meant for another supplier or
institution.“Suppliers are then requested to electronically transfer
the amount back into their (fraudsters) bank account,” Galane said.
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