A 46-year-old farmer in the Free State has been issued with a summons to appear in court on 17 charges including fraud, corruption and malicious damage to property for allegedly tampering with electricity meters.
Eskom conducted an audit that uncovered tampering with meters at several premises linked to the man in Steunmekaar and Petrusburg.
“The illegal connections, which were aimed at reducing electricity costs, are alleged to have occurred in 2016,” said Hawks spokesperson Lt-Col Zweli Mohobeleli.
“The identified meters were collected and sent to a laboratory for confirmation. The results came back positive. Eskom was prejudiced and suffered a loss of R1.9m. The Hawks' serious corruption investigation unit and Eskom investigators immediately started working on the matter.”
The farmer will also face a charge for contravention of section 3 of the Criminal Matters Amendment Act for alleged damage to essential infrastructure when he appears in the Bloemfontein regional court on September 14.
Provincial Hawks head Maj-Gen Mokgadi Bokaba said: “Trying to reduce electricity costs by tampering with electricity meters is a criminal offence. You will be arrested and prosecuted. We have reason to suspect that the farmer might have been assisted. Leads in this regard are being followed.”
TimesLIVE
Farmer faces fraud charges for 'tampering with electricity meters'
Free State man's 'illegal connections to reduce costs' set Eskom back R1.9m
Image: 123RF/moovstock
A 46-year-old farmer in the Free State has been issued with a summons to appear in court on 17 charges including fraud, corruption and malicious damage to property for allegedly tampering with electricity meters.
Eskom conducted an audit that uncovered tampering with meters at several premises linked to the man in Steunmekaar and Petrusburg.
“The illegal connections, which were aimed at reducing electricity costs, are alleged to have occurred in 2016,” said Hawks spokesperson Lt-Col Zweli Mohobeleli.
“The identified meters were collected and sent to a laboratory for confirmation. The results came back positive. Eskom was prejudiced and suffered a loss of R1.9m. The Hawks' serious corruption investigation unit and Eskom investigators immediately started working on the matter.”
The farmer will also face a charge for contravention of section 3 of the Criminal Matters Amendment Act for alleged damage to essential infrastructure when he appears in the Bloemfontein regional court on September 14.
Provincial Hawks head Maj-Gen Mokgadi Bokaba said: “Trying to reduce electricity costs by tampering with electricity meters is a criminal offence. You will be arrested and prosecuted. We have reason to suspect that the farmer might have been assisted. Leads in this regard are being followed.”
TimesLIVE
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