Home South African Police probe Cele over alleged R1 billion fraud

Police probe Cele over alleged R1 billion fraud

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KZN police are believed to be investigating Police Minister Bheki Cele on allegations of corruption and embezzlement of state funds amounting to at least R1 billion, which allegedly took place during his tenure as Transport, Community Safety and Liaison MEC.

Police minister Bheki Cele.Picture: Nqobile Mbonambi/ African News Agency (ANA)

Durban: KZN police are believed to be investigating Police Minister Bheki Cele on allegations of corruption and embezzlement of state funds amounting to at least R1 billion, which allegedly took place during his tenure as Transport, Community Safety and Liaison MEC.

The investigation came as a result of corruption charges laid by citizens’ rights group Real Democracy recently.

Chairperson Srini Naidoo said their mandate was to expose state capture, reveal the truth and expose lies for the benefit of fellow South Africans.

Provincial police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala confirmed that Real Democracy had opened a case, but could not confirm that it was against Cele. When national police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo was contacted to confirm the case, he said he was in Nkandla and would not be able to comment by the time of publication.

In a sworn affidavit, Srini Naidoo said: “I have a video of (businessman and convicted drug dealer and former policeman Timmy) Marimuthu explaining how he met Cele and amassed his fortune through their ’corrupt relationship’.”

In addition to the video, he said he had various newspaper articles and two recordings of conversations between Cele and Marimuthu, which “showed a corrupt relationship between these two men”.

“According to Marimuthu (in a video), their corrupt relationship began while Cele was still Transport, Community Safety and Liaison MEC in KZN. Marimuthu received transport tenders worth over R250 million,” he stated in an affidavit.

Naidoo said, in light of the totality of his evidence, there was a prima facie case of corruption and state capture.

“We seek the intervention of uncaptured, fair and trusted officials of the South African Police Service, to investigate, arrest and bring to book Bheki Cele and Timmy Marimuthu, paying particular regard to the safety and security of the complaint and all other witnesses,” Naidoo said.

Meanwhile, the Daily News recently reported on Cele and his ’’adviser’’, Marimuthu, who were caught on tape, in what appeared to be meddling in political campaigns.

Marimuthu was allegedly advising Cele on which top cops to sideline, which drug operations must be bust, which tenders to investigate, who is a suitable candidate to become president of the country, and the pulling of resources from the Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma (NDZ) campaign and redirecting them to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s CR17 campaign.

Cele was contacted by the Daily News for comment and he declined to do so.

The Daily News

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