The Hawks have arrested a 37-year-old suspect accused of being part of a multimillion-rand tender fraud scheme at Tembisa Hospital following his return to South Africa from abroad.
Image: Itumeleng English / Independent Newspapers
A 37-year-old suspect linked to R635 million at Tembisa Hospital is expected to appear in court after being arrested at OR Tambo International Airport upon returning from abroad.
The suspect, who was arrested by the Hawks on Friday, is accused of colluding with officials in the Gauteng Health Department to manipulate the procurement process.
Hawks national spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said the suspect was allegedly part of a complex investigation into multimillion-rand tender fraud in the Tembisa Hospital procurement process.
“The allegations in these Tembisa hospital cases relate to fraud, corruption, forgery and/or uttering, contravention of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and money laundering,” Mogale said.
She said certain hospital officials allegedly colluded with service providers to exploit the Request for Quotations (RFQs) system for procurement transactions below the R500,000 threshold.
“This approach was intentionally employed to circumvent the formal tender process,” Mogale said.
The alleged procurement irregularities were brought to light by whistleblower Babita Deokaran, a senior Gauteng health official who was gunned down outside her home in August 2021 after raising concerns about irregular tenders at Tembisa Hospital.
Deokaran had raised concerns that contracts were deliberately split into amounts below R500,000 to bypass National Treasury oversight.
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) later found that more than R2.04 billion had allegedly been siphoned from the Gauteng Department of Health through 207 front companies and nine syndicates.
Six men convicted of Deokaran’s murder are serving sentences ranging from six to 22 years.
Meanwhile, the suspect is expected to appear in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting at the Palm Ridge Magistrates’ Court, where he faces charges related to fraud, corruption and money laundering.
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