The Central District Council is reported to have lost over half a million pula to ghost workers.
A council official, believed to be the mastermind, is expected to appear before the Magistrate Court soon.
Information passed to the Sunday Standard reveals that a junior council employee stationed at Palapye Administration Authority had long been under surveillance as she was living beyond her means.
She is alleged to have created most of the ghost workers on the Council payroll and collected the salaries.
The suspect is reported to have been buying expensive things and had her bank account seized by authorities who are also moving in to confiscate her immovable property believed to have been bought from proceeds of the ghost employees.
Speaking to Sunday Standard, the Station Commander of Palapye Police Station, Superintendent Misheck Ranku, confirmed the case.
“It is true that we are investigating a case in which an employee of the Palapye Administration Authority created ghost employees whose salaries she took for personal use,” said Ranku.
He said that investigations had so far revealed that about two ghost employees have been on the payroll since 2007 until this year.
Ranku said that although they have one suspect at the moment, the number might rise as investigations continue.
He said over P500 000 had so far been siphoned off the payroll in the name of the ghost employees.
“Once the investigations are complete, the suspect will be arraigned before the Palapye Magistrate Court,” he said.
