A 73-year-old East London resident, Andrea Andy Scoccia, appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court today to face serious charges of fraud, forgery, and uttering in connection with a multi-million-rand housing scandal.
Scoccia was arrested by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation unit and has been released on R1,000 bail. The case stems from a 2016 tender awarded to Fitscape Trading CC by the Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements for the construction of RDP houses in Ntafufu village, Lusikisiki.
Between April and August 2018, Fitscape Trading CC allegedly secured a R7.5 million loan from the National Housing Financial Co-operation (NHFC) by submitting fraudulent invoices and forged signatures. According to investigators, the loan was never repaid, leading NHFC to approach the Hawks after uncovering financial irregularities.
The investigation confirmed that NHFC suffered a loss of over R3.6 million. Scoccia now faces the prospect of answering to these allegations in the Mthatha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, where he is set to appear on 28 August 2025.
