A housing scam allegedly run by a Durban police captain and involving about R3m is being investigated by the Hawks.
|||Durban - A housing scam allegedly run by a Durban police captain and involving about R3 million is being investigated by the Hawks.
Hundreds of people allegedly lost money after they invested in a company styling itself as a community trust.
It was said to be the brainchild of an officer based at Durban Central police station.
Some of these “investors”, many of them SAPS employees, have now come forward and reported the matter to the authorities.
Four of the investors who spoke to the Daily News claimed they had lost between R4 500 and R6 000 each.
An internal investigation by the police has led to the captain being served with a notice of intention to suspend him while the Hawks are also investigating claims of fraud against him.
Provincial police spokesman, Captain Thulani Zwane, said: “This investigation revolves around the maladministration of a housing scheme involving more than R3m.”
On its website the housing project developer claimed to provide affordable housing through the creation of a single fund “distributed equally among our members”.
A source close to the investigation said, “about 500 people were taken for a ride through this scam”.
The housing project had targeted low-income public servants, especially those who could not get bonds because they were blacklisted.
The Daily News understands that some of the investment meetings were held at the Durban Central police station where the promises of affordable houses were made.
One of the victims of the alleged scam said the suspected officer had promised to build houses for them at Mt Edgecombe.
“We then had to pay a deposit of R500 and make monthly contributions into the bank account,” said an administration clerk, who did not want to be named. The monthly payments ranged from R800 to R2 000, depending on the option selected: R800 a month payable over 24 years, or R2 000 a month payable over 10 years.
They were then reportedly promised houses valued at R250 000. The company allegedly promised to build a standard three-bedroom house with en suite bathroom, another bathroom, kitchen and lounge. It also promised help to those who had started building their own homes but were struggling to complete them.
However, people promised houses at Mt Edgecombe were allegedly later told that land could not be acquired there as the municipality had bought it. This was presumably a reference to the land on which the massive Cornubia housing project was being developed.
“We had to deposit money into the account every month and then take the receipt to the company office at Sangro House in Anton Lembede (Smith) Street, but one day we found that the office was closed,” said another investor.
Suspicious, some of the people who had signed up for the programme started demanding refunds.
A person listed as project coordinator on the project’s website, said that as far as she knew, investors had been refunded. “We have to understand that the R500 was a non-refundable one-off deposit,” she said.
However, when the Daily News pointed out to her that it was aware that some people had not been refunded, she said the company was “not an investment company where people could decide to withdraw their money any time they wanted to.
“The people who invested had to see their agreement through. I am also a member.”
She said the idea was that the trust would raise funds through other means to also help in building houses for its clients. “We were going to get donations and also fund-raise because, as the name suggests, this was about helping one another,” she said.
The police captain could not be reached for comment by the time of publication.
The KwaZulu-Natal secretary of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union, Kwenza Nxele, said the union was aware of the fraud charges against the captain.
bheki.mbanjwa@inl.co.za and mpume.madlala@inl.co.za
Daily News