Eastern Cape-based businessman Bathandwa Ndyamara is awaiting sentencing after he was convicted for fraud.
Ndyamara, 35, who owned a traveling agency called Siyawela Traveling, was accused of defrauding his clients, the department of education, of over R2-million in July 2019. The department wanted to secure accommodation through the agency.
Ndyamara’s company was registered in the Basic Accounting System of Education, which is used to pay suppliers.
“The quotations requested were supposed to be requested by the department of education, but the accused was directed to source quotations from Royal Lodge in Queenstown, Bay Lodge in Port Elizabeth, and Fairview Lodge in Mthatha,” said police spokesperson Captain Yolisa Mgolodela.
“The accused submitted invoices to the department of education, but the amount was not paid because the department detected that a request for quotes was a scam, as the department had already paid for the same order numbers,” Mgolodela added.
The matter was reported to the East London-based Hawks’ serious commercial crime investigation team for analytical research, which resulted in the arrest of Ndyamara on December 21 2021. He was later released on R5 000 bail.
After a series of court appearances, Ndyamara was found guilty of fraud and will be sentenced on June 24.
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