The woman who allegedly defrauded the Mantsopa Local Municipality in the Free State has been remanded in custody until reappearing in the Ladybrand Magistrates’ Court on 23 February to apply for bail. The suspect, Maria Louisa Venter (44), briefly appeared in court today, 16 February.
This followed her arrest on Wednesday, 14 February, for allegedly defrauding the municipality of R225 289.69 in December 2020.
Capt. Christopher Singo, provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, said the woman is charged with fraud, forgery, uttering, and money laundering. He said the Pretoria police’s Detective Services arrested Venter and then handed her over to the Hawks. He said the woman has been evading arrest since 2020.
Singo said Venter pretended to be a service provider to defraud the municipality.
“It is alleged that on 24 December 2020, the budget manager at the Mantsopa Local Municipality received an electronic mail from a suspect, pretending to be a service provider called Project Pioneer Construction requesting for an outstanding payment of R225 289.69 as stated on the fraudulent invoice. Knowing that there was indeed an outstanding amount of money to be paid to the service provider, the manager requested permission from the chief financial officer (CFO) to make the payment. The money was transferred to a bank account provided by the bogus service provider,” said Singo.
He said fraud was discovered a few days later when the legitimate service provider approached the municipality requesting the outstanding payment.
“The budget manager then sent proof of payment to the service provider who realised that it was not their banking details and also queried the e-mail sent to the municipality by the bogus service provider. The municipality confirmed with the bank that they had paid money to the suspect,” said Singo.
He said the Bethlehem Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team conducted the investigation. Upon conclusion a warrant of arrest was subsequently issued against Venter, who was arrested on Wednesday.
