fraud – praag.org

$2 billion embezzled in Mozambique… What’s new?

Switzerland has opened a probe related to $2 billion of loans to Mozambique that were organized by banks including Credit Suisse Group AG and VTB Bank PJSC, in a scandal that has already attracted the attention of prosecutors in the U.S.

The criminal probe was opened in February against “persons unknown” on suspicion of money laundering in connection with the loans, the Office of the Attorney General said on Friday. The target of the proceedings is not any specific person or entity, the office said.

The investigation follows requests for legal assistance from Mozambique, as well as reports of suspicious activity from the Swiss Money Laundering Reporting Office, according to the statement. Swiss newspaper NZZ reported the probe earlier on Friday.

Credit Suisse “is cooperating with all authorities investigating these matters,” a spokesman for the Swiss bank said.

The loans, which were granted to three state-owned Mozambican companies, are at the center of a scandal that has led to a sovereign default and an economic crisis. The debt was meant to fund a new coastal patrol force and develop a tuna fishing fleet for one of the world’s poorest countries. But the fundraising would ultimately come to the attention of U.S. prosecutors who alleged that the contracts were a front for government officials and bankers to enrich themselves. – Bloomberg

Read the full story here.

German company to pay for MH17 info

Germany’s fraud investigation company Wifka is ready to pay $30 million for the information on those behind the shootdown of the Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight in eastern Ukraine on July 17, the company said on its website on Wednesday.

The company said it has been tasked with investigating the air crash that killed all 298 passengers and crew. Wifka did not disclose the name of its client who is providing the reward.

Wifka said the reward would be paid to those who know who had shot down the plane, who gave the order to shoot it down, what happened to the people involved in the shootdown and to the weapon used.

“The money is securely deposited in Zurich, Switzerland. It will be paid there or in a different neutral place of the whistleblower’s choice,” Wifka said.

The company said its work was absolutely confidential and advised “whistleblowers to take great care, that is to contact them through a lawyer”.

Source: ItarTASS

Pallo Jordan has no qualification

Comment was not immediately available on a Sunday Times report that senior member of the ANC and MP Pallo Jordan did not have the academic qualifications he claimed to have.

According to the publication, no evidence could be found that Jordan, who goes by the title ‘Dr’ has ever had an honorary doctorate bestowed on him.

Jordan has no degrees or diplomas from the University of Wisconsin-Madison or the London School of Economics (LSE), the two institutions cited on his CV.

He has no formal tertiary academic qualifications whatsoever, the publication reported.

The office of the registrar at LSE told the publication: “We can find no record of Zwelidinga Pallo Jordan having been awarded a PHD from the school.”

The newspaper said it had tried to get Jordan to confirm his qualifications but to avail.

The office of the student services registrar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison confirmed that Jordan did study there, but he obtained only 97 credits between September 16 1963 and February 24 1964 and never completed his degree, according to the newspaper.

The Sunday Times published a long exchange of text messages between Jordan and its journalist.

At one instance, Jordan promises to have the relevant documentation ready but it does not materialise.

Jordan later suggests the journalist could be his official biographer in exchange for not publishing the story.

At the end of the text messages, Jordan tell the journalist he would sue Times Media (owners of the Sunday Times).

“Tell me, does Tokyo (Sexwale) still own Times Media? I will not take an old friend to court, but I’ll take you to the cleaners, the dry cleaners plus the laundry!! So do what you wanna!!.”

Secretary of Parliament Baby Tyawa referred queries to the African National Congress.

“Parliament is not involved in that, he is a member of the ANC in Parliament. Parliament does not make requirements for a member to have a degree or PHD,” Tyawa said.

Comment from ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa could not be obtained immediately.

The Government Communication and Information Services said it could not comment.

Jordan is a former minister of arts and culture, minister of environmental affairs, and minister of posts, telecommunications and broadcasting.

Source: Sapa

Nedbank, Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs in serious trouble

Giant law firm Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs and their co-conspirators Nedbank, are in serious trouble.

What happened last week will be devastating to their reputation. They stand to lose millions, if not billions in revenue from boycotts.

By now you know the story of the Ian Brakspear case. Ian had his estate liquidated by Leonard Katz, a Director of Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs. To obtain the liquidation, which left his elderly mother living in a garage and his family in dire straits, a fictitious R7million loan from Nedbank was submitted to the High Court. Then the Court order itself was forged.

The Hawks, who did a thorough investigation into Leonard Katz and the Court order, concur with Brakspear. Since then, Court files have gone missing, legal tricks have delayed proceedings, phones have been tapped and it’s been a cover-up every step of the way.

Nico Botha, claiming to be the Chairman of BOE, submitted a sworn affidavit to the High Court that the above loan was granted. Botha is most certainly NOT the Chairman of BOE. He is an arbitrary director of an insignificant campany called ‘BOE Trust’ with no right to depose of such an affidavit. He is a mere robo-signer. However, a man by the name of David McReady confirmed this affidavit, under oath, to be true! David McReady is a very, very big shot at Nedcor and this indicates just how high up the rot goes. There is no loan agreement or proof of payment that the loan ever took place. These men are lying through their teeth.

However, what you don’t know, is that Ian and his family have had their life threatened many times. They were forced to disconnect their land line and change phone numbers. Ian was attacked in a Durban carpark by two men who poured petrol over him and held a lighter to his face.

Even more sickening is that, despite this, Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs backs Leonard Katz 100%.

Judge President Patel Takes Action

Two weeks ago, NewERA subscribers wrote letters to the Judge President of KZN. The Honourable Judge Patel has now formally come to the party. He pulled all parties into Court.

Here is a summary:

KZN Judge president Patel called all parties to appear in Court.

Julian King SC, the Senior Counsel representing Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs (these highly paid advocates charge between R30,000 – R50,000 per morning) was caught with his pants down. King is now on the record with two contradictory statements that implicate both Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs and Nedbank.

Leonard Katz has been caught paying himself two invoices for exactly the same amount of work done, totalling almost R500,000. This is one item in a long list of indiscretions that you can read about in the press links.

The Black Liquidators Association officially supports Ian Brakspear. They briefed their own advocate to witness the proceedings. Her presence was made known to the Judge President on the record and they have offered to legally support Brakspear.

The Black Liquidators Association have their own evidence against Katz and Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs, which will almost certainly form part of the hearing. Further criminal charges against the cartel are imminent.

The case will be heard on the 11th of August in the KZN High Court. Two full weeks have been allocated for the trial to bring down the house of cards. Oscar has nothing on this.

Things are looking very bad for the mighty lawyers and their bankster buddies.

This week Noseweek has put a cartoon of Leonard Katz on their front cover. Their feature story is an expose of what Katz has been doing under the Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs banner. Nedbank and Investec are also implicated. Noseweek dedicated an entire section to Leonard Katz.

Other journalists were also witnessing the events, including the Sunday Times who made their presence known to the Judge President.

So far, Leonard Katz happily continues to be a practicing Director of Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs.

Mayor held for Mandela fraud

The Daily Dispatch newspaper reported how politically-connected “tenderpreneurs” cashed in on the Nelson Mandela’s chaotic memorial service in December last year.

Factions in the ANC in the Eastern Cape had T-shirts made with public money.

The newspaper said it broke the story a few weeks after Mandela’s funeral.

Buffalo City municipality Mayor Zukiswa Ncitha and two others were arrested on Monday for alleged fraud involving Nelson Mandela’s memorial service, Eastern Cape officials said.

Hawks spokesperson Paul Ramaloko confirmed on Monday that Ncitha, her deputy Temba Tinta and speaker Luleka Simon-Ndzele had been arrested and would appear in the East London Magistrate’s Court on the same day.

Pentagon probes massive recruiting fraud

When a retired Army colonel and an enlisted soldier from Albuquerque, N.M. were charged last year with defrauding the National Guard Bureau out of about $12,000 the case drew little public attention. But it’s now become clear that the two men are among the roughly 800 soldiers accused of bilking American taxpayers out of tens of millions of dollars in what a U.S. senator is calling “one of the biggest fraud investigations in Army history.”

The wide-ranging criminal probe centers around an Army recruiting program that had been designed to help the Pentagon find new soldiers during some of the bloodiest days of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The program went off the rails, investigators believe, after hundreds of soldiers engaged in a kickback scheme that allowed them to potentially embezzle huge quantities of money without anyone in the government noticing. In one case, a single soldier may have collected as much as $275,000 for making “referrals” to help the Army meet its recruiting goals, according to USA Today, which first reported the story Monday.

The military’s failure to spot, or stop, the wrongdoing will be the focus of what is expected to be a highly contentious hearing Tuesday before the Senate’s Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight. The committee’s chairwoman, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., has summoned several of the National Guard officials who were in power at the time the alleged wrongdoing was taking place.

The numbers of soldiers and money involved are staggering.

An Army internal audit has discovered that 1,200 recruiters had received payments that were potentially fraudulent. Another 2,000 recruiting assistants had received payments that were suspicious. More than 200 officers remain under investigation, according to McCaskill’s office. There are currently 555 active investigations involving 840 people.

Trouble in the recruiting program has been acknowledged previously, but the full scope and the results of the service’s own internal investigation of the program have not previously been disclosed. In the past, Army officials overseeing the program and a contractor who worked with the service on it, Docupak, insisted that accounts of potential fraud in it were greatly exaggerated, congressional officials said in a memo distributed to the media Monday. About 200 agents with the service’s Criminal Investigative Command are now examining the program’s records, and will review the actions of more than 106,000 people who received money through the program. That work will likely take until 2016, officials said.

A Defense Department official acknowledged that a lack of proper military oversight contributed to the problems.

“I think it was human greed, and I think it’s the cascading effects of contractors’ lack of supervision, as well as the Defense Department’s lack of supervision,” the official told Foreign Policy, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the probe.

Source: Foreign Policy

Heavy sentences demanded for murder trio

The South African Police Service in Limpopo on Monday will be demanding heavy sentences for a black couple and an associate on trial for 53 charges, which include murder, attempted murder, robbery, fraud, theft, racketeering and possession of drugs.

The call comes after the end of a marathon trial which commenced in February 2012 at the Polokwane High Court against Thomas Mothwa (43), his wife Refilwe Mothwa (41) and their associate Jan Mohlala (58). The trio is accused of playing a leading role in targeting elderly people in the rural areas of Limpopo and North West accosting them at or near the banks after they had withdrawn money.

The couple would approach victims under the pretext of knowing them, offering them a lift in their motor vehicle. The unsuspecting victims will then be offered a spiked soft drink and upon losing consciousness, they would steal their bank cards and banking details, identity documents and any other valuables. The victims would then be dumped along the road or thrown from a bridge or into a river and left for dead.

The couple would then enlist Mohlala and other unknown suspects to make withdrawals inside banks by replacing the photograph in the victims’ ID books with that of their associates or other accomplices, allowing them to misrepresent bank officials that they are the rightful owners and make withdrawals at various banks and ATM’S.

Their evil deeds started in 2000 and were finally halted by the police in 2007 leaving four victims dead, while two other victims James Molomo and George Moshoana bodies are yet to be accounted for and many others defrauded of their hard earned money. Both Molomo and Moshoana are presumed dead.

S. African criminals ‘admitting and registering’ students now – at a price

Police in Kwazulu-Natal province have warned first year students to take extra precautions during their registrations. They are warned not to make any payments on a street or in vehicles. It is alleged that criminals are promising students entrance to universities and requesting the students to pay fees to them. They allegedly take the students to their vehicles where the payments are done. The suspects will issue students with replica registration forms and a student number belonging to someone else making the deal look legitimate. The student is then sent home and told to come back with the balance of the money for the chosen courses.

On Wednesday, 15 January 2014 Berea police received information about this scam in the area and they initiated an investigation. A 26-year-old man was arrested and was found in possession of fraudulent documents used to carry out this scam. The suspect was charged with fraud and was detained in the Berea police cells. We believe that more suspects will be arrested for operating this scam. The suspect is due to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court soon. Police have appealed to any other person who has fallen victim to this scam to report the incident to their local police station. – SA Police media service

Official pockets hundreds of thousands for wiping R1.1 million in fines

A Tshwane Metro official who allegedly pocketed hundreds of thousands of rand by clearing drivers’ traffic fines has been fired.

The official, Kgotso Lethoba, had worked in the transgressions department at the Akasia vehicle licensing centre, which falls under the metro police, since 2006.

He was fired last month for fraud. He “transferred” the names on fines to the tune of R1.1 million.

Metro police spokesman Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba said Lethoba, who had access to the Aarto/eNatis system, managed to transfer traffic fines from the original driver to a fake ID number, thereby clearing the driver’s name.

This was done for almost a year, despite its not being part of his job description, until his arrest in February.

Mahamba said the system was set up in such a way that it blocked people from renewing their vehicle licences if there were outstanding fines on the vehicle.

“When you do not pay your fines, you cannot renew your licence disc until the debt is paid in full,” Mahamba said.

When people went to pay their fines, the official offered to make the fine “go away” – at a price.

He would transfer the fines to fake identity and passport numbers and pocket the money.

The process of transferring the fine is called driver nomination, normally used when there is a dispute over who should pay a fine.

An example, said Mahamba, was when a driver could prove that someone else was driving the vehicle when the fine was incurred.

The Aarto system is document-driven and to have a traffic fine transferred, one must fill in forms and provide a copy of the person’s ID to whom the fine is transferred.

Mahamba said Lethoba had filed no documentation for the transfers.

It is unclear how much the official charged.

Mahamba said the department hoped to recover some of the money by deducting it from Lethoba’s pension fund contributions.

Lethoba was arrested on February 13 as part of the city’s efforts to clamp down on corruption. He was placed on paid suspension for three months pending an investigation.

A first offender, Lethoba was allowed to return to work after the three-month suspension until his disciplinary hearing was completed. He was dismissed on September 30.

The disciplinary hearing started in March. The were delays because the official was sick and witness were absent, said Mahamba.

When he returned to work, the official was not allowed to use the Aarto/eNatis system.

“This dismissal is consistent with the city’s zero-tolerance policy in respect of dishonesty,” said Mahamba, adding that the criminal charges of corruption against the employee were continuing in court.

Since the official’s arrest, Mahamba said, the system had been adapted so that documents had to be filed before a fine could be transferred. “This should stop corrupt activities on the system.”

Four other employees in the same department have been arrested for similar offences. The suspects worked together and used the IDs of dead people to transfer traffic fines.

The criminal case of corruption against them is ongoing and they have returned to work after their three-month suspension.

Another official from the Akasia vehicle licence department was arrested in August after she was allegedly caught writing a learner’s licence test on behalf of a candidate for a fee. A date is awaited for her disciplinary hearing.

The Pretoria News reported on Tuesday that 12 metro employees in the horticulture department were axed for stealing council fuel and selling it to taxi drivers at a reduced rate. – iol.co.za

Former rugby player jailed for fraud

A rugby player for the former Northern-Transvaal rugby team, Paul Botes, was on Thursday sentenced in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria to serve 10 years in jail for fraud, Beeld reported.

Botes, 51, reached a guilty plea agreement with the State on 12 charges of theft and one of money laundering after stealing about R19.5 million from investors.

He stole the money between 1993 and 2012 while he worked as a broker.

He was first arrested in 2012 at his home in Pretoria, after an investor registered a complaint with the serious economic offences unit of police unit the Hawks.

Botes admitted to having received money from investors, some of whom were elderly, which he then used to fund his own lifestyle. – Sapa

S. African police trying to clean up crime, corruption in its ranks

Twenty members of the SA Police Service have been suspended in the past two months, the police said on Sunday.

“The actions of the employees were investigated and, based on prima facie evidence, disciplinary action was taken against them,” spokesman Lt-Gen Solomon Makgale said.

The suspended employees include eight police officers and 12 administration officials, said Makgale.

Makgale said that over the past two months 191 members of the police were arrested for their alleged involvement in various crimes such as murder, rape, corruption and fraud.

“An instruction has been issued to make it compulsory for members of the SAPS to regularly declare when they are facing criminal investigations.”

Makgale said that police management was also in the process of verifying the academic qualifications of employees.

“Employees whose academic records differ from what they have declared to SAPS will be dealt with and may be investigated criminally depending on the circumstances,” said Makgale.

Agang SA has welcomed the decision by the police to verify the qualifications of all policemen and women.

“The levels of public trust and confidence in the capabilities of the South African Police Service are so low,” spokesman Thabo Leshilo said in a statement.

Leshilo said Agang SA urged the police leadership to speed up the probe to verify the qualifications, especially those in leadership positions.

Makgale said the police has dismissed 930 of its members over the past 17 months. – Sapa

S. African police block raid on Nelson Mandela Foundation

Senior police management blocked a planned raid on charities associated with former president Nelson Mandela, the Mail & Guardian reported on Friday.

High level police officials were reportedly worried that a raid on the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, and the Nelson Mandela trust would cause embarrassment.

After this, a letter from police unit the Hawks was sent, including to some Mandela relatives, demanding financial statements.

Chief executive of the children’s fund Sibongile Mkhabela’s spokesman Oupa Ngwenya confirmed a letter was received.

“The account the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund has with Nedbank is public knowledge and has been accounted in the financial statement for the year ended March 31, 2013 and is included as… [a note in] the annual report.”

Ngwenya and Danielle Melville, spokeswoman for the foundation’s chief executive, said the letters had been passed to Mandela’s lawyer Bally Chuene.

The letters reportedly related to charges of fraud, forgery and uttering laid against Mandela’s former attorney Ismail Ayob.

In July, a court application for the removal of George Bizos, Tokyo Sexwale, and Chuene as directors of Harmonieux Investment Holdings and Magnifique Investment Holdings was struck off the court roll.

The application was brought by Mandela’s daughters Makaziwe Mandela and Zenani Mandela-Dlamini.

Mandela is at home recovering after a lengthy stay in hospital.

Figure revised in police corruption case

Ex-crime intelligence boss Solly Lazarus

The amount two senior police officers are accused of stealing from a crime intelligence fund has been reduced, the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court heard on Wednesday.

Crime intelligence unit chief financial officer Maj-Gen Solly Lazarus and the unit’s head of logistics Colonel Hein Barnard would now face charges relating to the alleged theft of R370,000.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel submitted the revised figure to the court. Both were suspended and charged with theft, fraud, and corruption initially involving R1.1 million.

The two said, through their lawyer, they would seek to have part of their bail conditions reviewed.

The court turned down their request to have the charges broken down into individual offences.

Nel opposed the suggested amendment to the charges. He said the charges were related, even though they were committed on different occasions over a lengthy period.

“We have one fraudulent action but the same role players.”

The matter was postponed to September 18.

The duo was granted bail of R10,000 each in December. In 2011, the unit’s former head Richard Mdluli was also charged with fraud and corruption following alleged misuse of the unit’s funds.

Mdluli allegedly used the money to purchase luxury vehicles. The charges against him were later withdrawn. – Sapa

Almost R1 billion lost to known government fraud in South Africa

The Times reports that nearly R1-billion lost through fraud in the public service has not been recovered.

Government departments have managed to get less than R1-million back into the state’s coffers.

The Public Service Commission has found that the public service lost R932.3-million to financial misconduct in the 2010-2011 financial year.

According to the commission, misconduct relates to theft, mismanagement, misappropriation and abuse of funds, fraud, corruption and gross negligence.

North West – where fighting between rival factions in the ruling ANC is rife – was the worst offender.

Financial misconduct by public servants cost the province R673821980.45, but the authorities managed to recover only R4530.

Limpopo, which had several departments placed under administration by the cabinet, performed much better than North West.

Financial misconduct cost it R16123114.64 – but only a measly R1367.37 was recovered.

Figures for the 2011-2012 financial year show that the cost of financial misconduct has dropped dramatically to R230-million but cases monitored by the commission rose to 1243 – up from 1035 the year before.

In 2011-2012, departments in Gauteng misused R14-million of public money.

Only R27000 has been recouped to date.

Gauteng flushed away R18463258 and recovered a mere R4259.

Public Service Commission member Mike Seloane said the drop can be attributed to two factors.

“The systems are becoming effective or departments are simply not declaring financial misconduct. There are departments that have declared no financial misconduct,” he said.

The commission will launch an inquiry into the reasons for the low rate of recovery of misused public money.

In addition to financial misappropriation, the commission observed that efforts to deal with the problem were being frustrated by political heads of department.

It expressed displeasure at the “reluctance by departments to disclose fully the financial misconduct cases”.

And it noted that there were “no concrete plans to ensure that money lost to the state was recovered fully”.

The report detailing the latest national financial misconduct figures is expected to be published and presented in parliament in August or September.