Hawks bust SAPS general
December 12 2012 at 01:58pm
By Yogas Nair
By Yogas Nair
Independent
Newspapers
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Johannesburg -
Embattled police secret service fund boss, Major-General Solly Lazarus, has
been dealt another blow . On Tuesday, he was arrested by the Hawks at his
Johannesburg home.
The head of
logistics at the crime intelligence unit, Colonel Hein Barnard, was also
arrested.
They are facing
charges of theft, fraud and corruption.
Lazarus, a
former KwaZulu-Natal policeman, was the unit’s head of covert support and chief
financial officer who had overseen the R250 million secret service account.
He was
suspended earlier this year after he was accused of looting the account.
Crime
Intelligence has been plagued with problems since May this year when more than
25 senior white and Indian officers were transfered to “dead end” positions at
stations nationwide.
Disgruntled
members blamed suspended intelligence head, Richard Mdluli, saying he had
retaliated against those who did not support him.
National Hawks
spokesman, Captain Paul Ramaloko, said the two were arrested by Hawks
investigators had appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on charges of
theft, fraud and corruption, related to the secret service account.
Both were
released on R10 000 bail each, and the matter was adjourned to February 21
The court
ordered that the two were not allowed to leave the country without the
permission of the investigating officer, must not interfere with witnesses and
must surrender their passports.
Ramaloko
refused to divulge details of the charges, but did say the money was either
stolen or was used to benefit themselves.
“That is all we
can say for now. We do not want to compromise our investigations.”
He said both
policemen were on suspension when arrested.
A police source
said the arrests related to the alleged irregular purchasing of vehicles using
secret service funds.
The alleged
theft amounted to more than R1.2m, the source said.
In June this
year, Lazarus was told of his indefinite suspension by acting head of crime
interlligence, Lieutenant-General Fanie Masemola. This came less than two
months after an earlier suspension was lifted, and departmental charges
withdrawn against him.
Lazarus had
been informed that new information had come to light on the earlier alleged
instances of his mismanaging the crime intelligence fund. The two allegations
amounted to serious misconduct and serious financial misconduct, Lazarus was
told by police management.
He was told
that he was being suspended to avoid his interfering with witnesses, many of
whom work under him in crime intelligence.
Lazarus denied
allegations that he had misused funds, and said he found it highly irregular
that he was being investigated by junior members.
During his
previous suspension, Lazarus was accused of fraudulently arranging a trip to
China in 2008 for Mdluli and three others, using the secret service fund.
It was also
alleged that he used secret service funds to pay for trips for his family; that
he and his family had stayed in a “safe house” while his home in Edenvale was
being renovated; and that he had authorised payment for furniture for a “safe
house” Mdluli had been staying at.
At the time,
Lazarus said all the expenditure from the account was in line with operational
needs.
After his last
suspension, Lazarus has declared a dispute, claiming unfair labour practice.
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