The Limpopo Provincial Treasury has laid a complaint with the police after learning of a fraudulent scheme using the name of the MEC for Finance, David Masondo. Using a fraudulently and illegally registered email address in MEC Masondo’s name, a person or group of persons appear to have conned individuals into depositing money into their accounts under the pretext that they were awarded a tender by the Treasury.
No such tender was awarded, as is claimed in the fraudulent email. The MEC does not award tenders as the department has relevant committees which deal with awarding of tenders in line with Supply Chain Management prescripts. Successful service provider(s) receive written communication from the department and their particulars are also advertised in the Provincial Tender Bulletin.
Because of the seriousness of the matter and our commitment to fight corruption, the Department has registered a criminal case against the fraudster(s). We take exception that the name and reputation of the MEC and that of the Department is falsely linked with dubious and criminal activity.
When asked how he feels about this scam, MEC Masondo said, "I am not worried about myself. I am more concerned about people who might have lost their hard-earned money to this scam". We appeal to members of the public to be aware of our strict tender procedures and not to be duped by conmen without interrogating the documentation.
We also appeal to anyone with information regarding such fraud to immediately report it to the police.
We look forward to the speedy arrest and prosecution of all the individuals involved.
Further details contact:
Kevin Ramdharie
Cell: 082 412 5578
