Lerato Mbhiza
Hawks head Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya says a number of arrests and convictions of people involved in money laundering, corruption and fraud were secured through the Fusion Centre.
The Fusion Centre was established in May 2020 by the anti-corruption task team and the national priority operational committee as a multidisciplinary and collaborative effort in the prevention and combating of corruption and money laundering.
Lebeya said at a media briefing outlining the accomplishments of the Fusion Centre that the initial focus on the entity was on money laundering, corruption and other financial crimes related to procurement of Personal Protective Equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The Fusion Centre follows an intelligence-driven approach in investigating corruption, and it uses comprehensive data and information analysis; it also fast tracks and expedites the processing of cases, reducing delays,” he said.
One of the 43 cases Lebeya cited, involved an accountant who defrauded the UIF Ters scheme of more than R11 million by claiming relief funds on behalf of a number of companies without their knowledge.
In that case, 17 persons, 26 entities, 53 banking accounts and 983 transactions were involved in the flow of financial proceeds from the accountant.
The accountant, Lindelani Bert Gumede, was arrested and convicted for fraud, theft and money laundering. He was sentenced in 2022 to a total of 135 years in prison.
The centre also managed to investigate 556 cases of money-related crimes. To date, 48 cases are still pending before various South African courts.
There were 97 referrals for disciplinary and executive actions against officials in government departments and state-owned entities.
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