Scorpions arrest E Cape officials

2003-02-04 10:38

East London - Six Eastern Cape government officials and a medical doctor were arrested in early morning raids on their homes by the elite Scorpions investigative unit on Tuesday, Scorpions spokesman Sipho Ngwema said.

Ngwema said the seven suspects, including four women, were part of a group of officials suspected to be involved in the theft of pension money and cheques from the provincial Department of Social Services.

The Port Elizabeth doctor allegedly endorsed fraudulent welfare payment applications.

The department estimated it had lost more than R1million in the scam, Ngwema said.

Members of the Scorpions, the popular name of the Directorate of Special Investigations, began their house-to-house raids in Zwelitsha, near Bisho, before dawn on Tuesday. The operation was still underway at 11am, Ngwema said.

Ngwema said the unit was searching for more officials. He said documentation and ID books used to obtain pension money fraudulently were seized at the home of one of the suspects.

The documents were used by the alleged fraudsters to identify themselves as beneficiaries of the pensioners. The seven would appear in the Mdantsane Specialised Commercial Crimes Court later on Tuesday.

- SAPA