Durban - Four people, including an attorney and the chief financial officer of an investment firm based in Durban were expected to appear in court on Friday for allegedly swindling the Coastal KZN TVET College of R30 million rand.
Members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) Durban Serious Corruption Investigation – otherwise known as the Hawks – arrested four suspects aged between 27 and 44 for fraud, corruption and money laundering.
They are Zaitoon Shaik, the chief financial officer of the company, an associate, Shariq Ansari, attorney, Azgar Ally Khan and his wife, Sharlene Bechoo.
It is alleged that during the period November 2018 and October 2019 Shaik made misrepresentations to Coastal KZN TVET College with regard to a lucrative investment opportunity for the institution, Hawks spokesman, Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo said.
“The chief financial officer allegedly colluded with an attorney to create an investment proposal purporting to have come from a bank. It was then presented and accepted by the college. As a result, the college invested R30 million into a bank account similar to that of the college when in fact it was false,” he said.
The college later discovered no investment was never made on their behalf.
Mhlongo said the Hawks were consulted to investigate, culminating in the arrest of the suspects.
They appeared in the Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Friday.
Shaik was granted R20 000 bail, Ansari, R50 000, Khan R50 000 and Bechoo, R25 000.
Daily News