Four people, including an attorney and the chief financial officer of an investment firm based in Durban were made to appear in court on Friday for allegedly swindling the Coastal KZN TVET College of R30 million rand.
Four suspects aged between 27 and 44 have been arrested for fraud, corruption and money laundering by the members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) Durban Serious Corruption Investigation – otherwise known as the Hawks.
They are Zaitoon Shaik, the chief financial officer of the company, an associate, Shariq Ansari, attorney, Azgar Ally Khan and his wife, Sharlene Bechoo.
According to Hawks spokesman, Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo, it is alleged that between November 2018 and October 2019, Shaik presented a false proposal to Coastal KZN TVET College with regard to a lucrative investment opportunity for the institution,
“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 realized that there was no investment made on their behalf.
Mhlongo said the Hawks were consulted to investigate the matter which fostered 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.
