Hawks arrest SA business man who duped DRC govt out of millions of rands

JOHANNESBURG - The Hawks have arrested South African Aviation businessman, Jonathan Wolpe, who duped the DRC government out of millions of rands.

In July, EWN exclusively reported on how Wolpe was contracted to assist with the DRC’s presidential elections in December by providing private helicopters to fly delegates around the country. 

But Wolpe made off with the DRC's deposit of 60,000 dollars and has not paid them to date. 

His dubious dealings saw two SA pilots, contracted by him, being held in the country against their will for weeks, last year.

On Monday, the Hawks in Gauteng pounced and arrested United Aviation Group CEO, Jonathan Wolpe, a well-known figure on the private aviation scene who has gained a bad reputation for not honouring his debts. 

An investigation by EWN previously found that Wolpe had received payment for charter flights from the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the country’s presidential elections last year. 

Despite receiving the funds, Wolpe failed to provide the agreed-upon services and instead misappropriated the money for personal use. 

Hawks spokesperson Lloyd Ramovha said Wolpe has been charged, along with his company, for fraud.

"On this fraudulent activity resulted in the complainant suffering a financial loss of R9,000,000.

"On Monday, we arrested the director of United Chartered Flight Services, this is in respect of fraud amounting to over R9 million." 

Wolpe will appear in the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Palm Ridge on Wednesday for a formal bail application.