Former Joburg property valuer granted bail

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Published Jan 19, 2017

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Johannesburg – A 29-year-old former City of Johannesburg official, who was arrested for R40 million fraud and corruption, was granted bail of R20 000 by the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Thursday.

Mbali Ronalds Maclare, a former candidate building valuer, was arrested on Wednesday, by the The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) following a two-year probe in which she stands accused of embezzling R40 million.

Maclare was implicated in the defrauding the City of Johannesburg of over R40 million by allegedly devaluing numerous buildings prices in the inner city for personal gain between August 2013 and October 2014.

The Hawks spokesperson, Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu, confirmed that Maclare was granted bail but declined to share details of police investigation.

"We can confirm that Maclare was granted a R20,000 bail by the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court this morning. Her case was postponed to 20 February 2017 for further investigations," Mulamu said.

Mulamu said that the investigations, which started on September 2015, were at an advance stage as it was believed that she was not acting alone but part of a syndicate.

The director of communications at Joburg mayor's office, Tony Taverna-Turisan, said the City could not discipline Maclare as she was no longer in the employ of the municipality, hence criminal charges.

"She resigned before we even took office but nothing was done against her. She resigned in 2015 when the investigation was concluded but before the report was released," Taverna-Turisan said.

Maclare's arrest brought to nine the total number of suspects arrested with links to the City of Johannesburg.

A week ago eight officials stationed at Martindale Licensing Department in Midrand and Sandton Drivers Testing Centre respectively, were arrested by the Hawks for fraud and corruption.

African News Agency

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