Married couple and two others arrested for laundering R57m

A married couple and two other suspects appeared in the Durban specialised commercial crime court on Thursday on charges of corruption and money laundering.

The Hawks arrested Frederick Hume, 45, Jeffery Knight, 54, and David, 55, and Beverly Brandsma, 52,  after a two-year investigation.

“It is alleged the Brandsmas worked in cahoots with Hume and Knight using three entities – To Be Sales 5 CC, Hume Meats Pty Ltd and Transtrade Pty Ltd – that were contracted as suppliers of frozen goods to Boxer Superstores and laundered almost R57m over a period six years - that is from 2011,” Hawks spokesperson captain Lloyd Ramovha said.

David Brandsma worked for Boxer Superstores and Beverly was a To Be Sales 5 director. David allegedly helped source goods from Hume Meats Pty Ltd and Transtrade Pty Ltd at inflated prices before kickbacks were paid into his personal bank account.

“The disguised kickback arrangement carried on until retailers' internal auditors picked up the irregularities on one of the transactions,” Ramovha said.

The court granted the Brandmas R50,000 bail each, while Hume and Knight were each granted bail of R75,000.

The case was postponed to August 26.