Police raid 'fraudulent' exporters' premises

False invoices allegedly submitted to DTI Leonard Neill THE HEADQUARTERS of several Gauteng manufacturers have been raided in the past few days by special police units investigating allegations that they defrauded an export promotion programme operated by the Department of Trade and Industry as part of its export marketing and investment assistance (EMIA) plan. The firms are among a dozen in the province which have been under investigation in recent weeks, says EMIA director Christiaan Saaiman, who says that numerous false invoices have been submitted to his department. Among these are many claims of overseas visits which were never undertaken, he says. ÒWe have come across a good deal of abuse and fraud in the fund which works on a reimbursement basis. There appear to be syndicates involved in the fraudulent claims, and in one case there is a consortium of companies working in this manner.Ó On discovering the fraudulent claims, the department reported the matter to the police and the state prosecutor's office. More evidence was required to substantiate the allegations which resulted in the raids. According to Saaiman these investigations have been confined to Gauteng companies at this stage, but there was a possibility of them stretching to other parts of the country. Departmental staff training has been improved in a bid to crack down on future fraud, while stricter monitoring of applications for assistance is now being applied, he says. The scheme was aimed at helping exporters, especially in the small and medium-sized manufacturing sector where specialised training is also given by the department.