LIMPOPO's standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) wants the province's agriculture head charged with fraud and corruption.

LIMPOPO's standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) wants the province's agriculture head charged with fraud and corruption.

This after R6,8million of the department of agriculture was allegedly deposited into to a private account.

Scopa also wants Bigman Maloa removed as head of department.

Scopa made the call yesterday at hearings in which the department claimed the money was "wrongly" transferred into Zowa Information Technologies' account.

Maloa was summoned to appear before the committee after he allegedly instructed the police to stop an investigation into why the money was transferred into Zowa's account "though the company had not done any work for the department".

The committee heard that officials who were not supposed to have dealings with the department's payroll system allegedly banked the money.

Asked why he told the police to stop an investigation into the case, Maloa said the police had advised the department there was a lack of evidence because he had no supporting documents. According to documents before the committee Maloa lied while trying to protect junior officials who were supposed to have been charged with misconduct.

The transferred money was meant to go into the Government Employees' Pension Fund Scheme but "ended in a strange, private account".

Sowetan understands the money was traced by the bank's intelligence agency, which tipped off police.

The police stopped their investigation when Maloa allegedly instructed them to do so. Maloa told the committee that no action was taken against the implicated officials. This angered Scopa.

Chairperson Derrick Ngobeni demanded that the implicated officials be charged and the fraud case against them be reinstated. Ngobeni also asked MEC Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba to charge Maloa and the three implicated officials.