The SAPS commercial crimes unit have busted a prominent lawyer (47) and his employee (49) for fraud.
As part of a sustained effort to rid the Province of fraud and corruption, the Provincial Commercial Crimes Investigation Unit in the Eastern Cape nabbed a prominent attorney together with one of his employees in the early hours of this morning, 20 June 2019 in Bhisho.
The arrests are a sequel to the establishment of a Task Team which was assigned to investigate three (3) cases of fraud suspected to have been committed within the Department of Health in Bhisho.
According to the reports, the suspects who handed themselves over, submitted fraudulent Civil Claims amounting to R45 million for cases involving Medical Practice Claims filed against the Department of Health.
The reports suggest that the suspects issued summons to the departmental authorities levelling allegations to the fact that doctors and nurses in at least three Hospitals in the Eastern Cape failed to properly examine their clients and were negligent in the care and treatment thereof during their admission. The attorney’s three (3) clients, who gave birth to their children at their respective homes, were persuaded against to agree that they delivered their children at the hospitals and the manner in which they were treated resulted to their children suffering from a condition known as Cerebral Palsy and Septic Quadriplegic.
The Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Liziwe Ntshinga appreciated the work of the Commercial Crimes detectives who worked tirelessly to save the state purse from what she called unscrupulous and unpatriotic individuals.
“Just as the Honourable Premier of the Eastern Cape stated during his swearing in May, our Province has absolutely no place for the corrupt. I want to add that fraud and corruption is no laughing matter and I am determined to provide as much support to the detectives as possible in order to ensure that all the remnants of corrupt officials are ejected from the system and our communities”, Lieutenant General Ntshinga concluded.
The two suspects appeared before the Zwelitsha Magistrate court on three (3) cases relating to Fraud. The case has been postponed to 2 September 2019 in Zwelitsha magistrate court and the accused are currently out on bail.
