A 29-year-old woman accused of defrauding the City of Johannesburg of over R40-million has been granted bail in the Johannesburg commercial crimes court.

Mbali Renolda Maclare Maclare was arrested following an investigation by the Hawks Serious Commercial Crimes Unit which began in September of 2015.

 Another person is expected to join her on the accused stand when she returns on February 20.

She was granted R20‚000 bail‚ with the condition that should she leave the province‚ she must notify investigating officer Warrant Officer Mzamane Hlongwane.

Earlier this week‚ the City of Johannesburg said her arrest followed the airing of the Carte Blanche expose on November 6 2016‚ of irregularities in the setting of Johannesburg property valuations as well as an investigation conducted by an internal forensic investigations unit‚ led by the city’s head of internal investigations‚ Shadrack Sibiya.

Maclare resigned when the previous administration received a preliminary report on her dealings. She is accused of colluding with property owners and enabling properties worth as much high as R120-million not to pay rates.

 The city said she was identified as the person responsible for irregular and fraudulent adjustments and devaluing of 22 properties in the city‚ amounting to just under R500 million.

 The fraudulent adjustments and changes of the market values of the properties by invalid Municipal Objection Outcome letters resulted in the loss of an estimated R40 million worth of revenue over five financial years.