A DA ward councillor in Pietermaritzburg, who is also an attorney, was arrested yesterday for alleged fraud related to Road Accident Fund claims.
Nalini Atwaru, of law firm Atwaru, Naidoo and Associates, was arrested at her offices and appeared briefly in the Commercial Crime Court.
She was granted bail of R5 000 and the case was adjourned to March 2.
Atwaru, 42, is charged with one count of fraud related to a claim in which she allegedly said that she, along with her mother, three children and her mother-in-law, had been injured in an accident. She was paid out R214 000 for that claim. However, investigations revealed that the crash had not occurred.
Atwaru’s mother, Nelambal Naidoo, was also arrested yesterday, but her case was struck off the roll after the prosecution team decided not proceed with charges against her.
It is understood that other counts of fraud, amounting to more than R3 million, could be added to the charge sheet against Atwaru later.
Her arrest, which came after investigations carried out by the accident fund’s forensic team and the police commercial crime unit, is believed to be part of a bigger fraud probe into a syndicate involving police officers and others.
Identity Books
It is believed that the syndicate used details from people’s identity books to submit false claims without their knowledge or consent.
The DA caucus leader in the Msunduzi municipality, Bill Lambert, said yesterday that the party was aware of Atwaru’s arrest.
“I shall consult with the provincial leadership of the party and the federal structures of the DA, and we will make a decision on how to proceed as a result of this matter,” he said.
Lambert added that Atwaru, the councillor in Ward 33, which covers Scottsville and parts of the Pietermaritzburg city centre, had been a councillor for four to five years.
“She easily won this ward in the local government elections last year,” he said.
Atwaru’s arrest came after nine people were arrested in November last year for accident fund fraud in Chatsworth and Pietermaritzburg.
In that case, the nine alleged they had been travelling in a minibus taxi that was involved in an accident in Gumtree Road in Pietermaritzburg. They were paid out a total of about R5 million.
According to the fund, 300 people were convicted of fraud relating to false claims during the 2010/11, perpetrated by individuals, groups and organised criminal syndicates.
