A public appeal has been launched by police and the Hawks to help them locate a woman who allegedly committed fraudulent activities, by persuading people to invest in her personal protective equipment business, scamming investors out of R10 m.
Swereen Govender allegedly convinced family and friends to invest in the business since June 2019 by promising dividends in return, said national police spokesperson brig. Vish Naidoo.
“Further investigation revealed that Govender initially paid minimum dividends to investors and then completely stopped at a later stage. She has allegedly been lying to her investors that she cannot be contacted as she has been placed in a witness protection program,” Naidoo said in a statement.
“Multiple cases have been registered at various police stations in Gauteng, which are now referred to the Hawks’ serious commercial crime investigation team in Germiston for further investigation.
“The investigation team further revealed that Govender created fraudulent suppliers’ certificates from different government departments for PPE.
“Govender has since been positively linked to and is wanted on these fraud cases in Gauteng, in some of which cases she is alleged to have taken people’s life savings, retirement and disability pensions, leaving these people absolutely destitute.”
Naidoo urged people to be extremely cautious when investing money with individuals.
