Two in court for eating feeding scheme money

Two people have appeared in the Nelspruit Regional Court for defrauding the Mpumalanga department of education R6-million in a bogus feeding scheme.

Nkosinathi Mbombi‚ 45‚ and Elizabeth Zitha‚ 60‚ appeared in court on Thursday facing more than 37 counts of fraud‚ theft and money laundering.

“It is alleged that in 2011‚ the accused submitted several fraudulent invoices to the department of education for services intended for a national school nutritional programme which were never rendered. The matter was referred to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Investigation Unit for investigations‚ leading to the pair being served with summons on March 22, 2018 to appear in court.

“Mbombi‚ who is an employee of the [provincial] department of health‚ was allegedly instrumental in recruiting owners of various companies to submit these invoices‚” said Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi.

The money was allegedly deposited into business accounts as well as individual accounts and was subsequently withdrawn and shared among a syndicate‚ Sekgotodi said.

Zitha‚ one of the business owners‚ allegedly failed to disclose the money paid to her.

The two were released on a warning with strict conditions and are expected back in court on June 4.