By: Kaya 959 Reporter
The R29-million fraud, theft, and money laundering case of Advocate Vuyokazi Sangoni and businessman Poovandaren Chetty will resume on Friday in the King William’s Town Magistrates Court.
Sangoni, a former Chief Director at the Eastern Cape Department of Social Development (ECDSD), and Chetty, the Director of Umnotho Development, were arrested in August 2020.
NPA spokesperson Anelisa Ngcakani says they were arrested along with Stanley Khanyile, the former municipal manager of Sedibeng District Municipality and former Head of Department (HOD) for the ECDSD. Khanyile was shot dead on 3 October 2020 in Alberton, Gauteng.
“Sangoni is charged with fraud while Chetty faces 16 counts of fraud, 18 counts of theft, and 15 counts of money laundering,” she says.
In 2015, the ECDSD was to establish a Provincial Women’s Development Resource Centre in Lusikisiki. The centre was intended to serve as a hub for socio-economic empowerment for women with a focus on skills development programmes. It was also intended to be a provincial hub for marketing the products produced by women co-operatives or groups which were funded by the department.
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Ngcakani says the department identified an existing government infrastructure in Lusikisiki as a suitable place to house the centre. It was against this background that Khanyile, in his capacity as the HOD in 2015, allegedly flouted procurement prescripts and processes to ensure that Chetty was awarded the R14.4-million contract for establishing the centre.
Between July and August 2015, the ECDSD paid just over R14-million to Umnotho.
For the 2016/17 financial year, a tender was advertised by the ECDSD for the training and capacitation of co-operatives. Khanyile and Sangoni are accused of colluding to ensure that Umnotho won the tender through unfair advantage in the procurement process.
“Umnotho was awarded the tender on 3 May 2016. The ECDSD paid just over R15-million to Umnotho,” Ngcakani says.
Chetty allegedly used approximately R14-million from the Umnotho account for his personal benefit in that during August and September 2015, he allegedly bought a Rolex watch, a diamond ring, Porsche and Ferrari motor vehicles, and gold coins valued at just over R1-million.
The Asset Forfeiture Unit of the NPA has seized a number of assets which were allegedly proceeds of tender fraud. These include just over R12-million in an Umnotho Training and Development Trust, a Porsche 911, and 52 Gold Kruger Coins.
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