News24 reports that last week the Hawks arrested a former Volkswagen (VW) employee for allegedly defrauding the car manufacturer of more than R12 million.

Christo de Jager, 59, was arrested on numerous fraud and corruption charges. He had worked as a fleet manager for VW at Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape. Gqeberha Hawks spokesperson, Captain Yolisa Mgolodela, said that between January 2013 and April 2021, De Jager allegedly became part of a defrauding scam with an employee of Autotrust, which was contracted to do auto body repair work. De Jager was allegedly being paid monthly to orchestrate payments based on fraudulent invoices. Mgolodela reported: “A whistle was blown, and the matter was reported to the Hawks for extensive investigations. [The] investigations revealed that during the eight years of the commission of the offence, 572 fraudulent invoices were submitted and paid for, thus prejudicing VWSA of more than R12 million for services not rendered.” De Jager appeared in the Gqeberha New Law Court and was released on a warning. He will return to court on 23 March.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tshepiso Motloung at News24

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