Lebeya: Slow recovery of money in graft cases due to court postponements
Hawks boss Godfrey Lebeya says court delays often slow down the recovery of money and assets stolen through fraud and corruption.
Lebeya spoke during a media briefing on Thursday about the crime-fighting unit's investigations into state capture.
"One process you can start the civil case to recover what has been lost. The other process is that you wait for a conviction, and once there is a conviction, then you start claiming the resources that an individual may have benefited. When the case is dragging, it delays that process."
READ: Hawks nab over 600 suspects, secure 500 convictions this Quarter
He said they have arrested over 30 suspects so far and secured several convictions, including that of former Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa engineering head Daniel Mthimkhulu, who was handed a 15-year sentence.
But Lebeya acknowledged the impact of case delays on their work.
"You can understand that matter that comes from 2015 when currently we are arresting more - it means that we are adding on that number."
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