Pretoria - A 52-year-old man employed by the City of Ekurhuleni is expected to appear today before the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court facing charges of extortion and corruption, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) in Gauteng said.
“It is alleged that in January this year, unknown men approached a farmer in Katlehong and demanded to see the lease documents from the Ekurhuleni Municipality,” said Gauteng Hawks spokesperson Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu.
“The suspect, who was in a company of an accomplice, stated that he was employed by the municipality as a customer care relations officer. They then solicited R4 000 from the farmer and accused him of occupying the farm illegally.”
The 52-year-old City of Ekurhuleni employee allegedly targeted the farmer again on Monday, and the Hawks’ serious corruption investigation unit in Germiston was alerted.
“The team swiftly responded to the intelligence received, which culminated in a sting operation being activated. One suspect, who was later confirmed to be a city official, was arrested after he received R5 000 in cash,” said Mulamu.
“Investigation continues while the outstanding suspect is still being sought,” said Mulamu.
Earlier this month, an alleged fraudster linked to a Gauteng property sale scam involving approximately R1 million was granted R4 000 bail by the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court after being arrested by the Hawks.
“It is alleged that Fhatuwani Nicholas Ngodiseni, 37, fraudulently created a duplicate email address to launder money from a Randfontein potential property buyer in October 2017,” Mulamu said at the time.
“Further investigation revealed that Ngodiseni allegedly intercepted and re-directed the property buyer to his email address, where he provided new banking details to which over R1 000 040 was transferred.”
Mulamu said the investigating team successfully obtained a warrant of arrest for Ngodiseni. He was consequently traced and arrested in Pretoria.
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