A United States embassy Centre for Disease Control boss, who is facing charges of fraud and corruption, was released on R100 000 bail in the Cape Town Regional Court on Wednesday.
Alfred Bere, 36, faces charges of fraud and corruption, allegedly involving more than R25m, Hawks spokesperson Philani Nkwalase said.
Bere, who was born in Zimbabwe, was arrested on August 24 at the Beitbridge border post while allegedly on his way to Zimbabwe.
He was tasked with the role of overseeing donated funds and allegedly misused the funds for personal gain.
"The funds were donated from the United States of America, meant to be redistributed to deserving non-profit organisation to fight the spread of diseases by providing healthcare services to key groups and individuals," Nkwalase said.
He added that it was alleged that the funds were injected to one deserving NPO, which was later coerced to take up another separate NPO as a subsidiary.
"The funds from the subsidiary [were] allegedly used for personal gain and further transferred to [the accused's] personal account.
"His arrest was as a result of diligent investigation by the Hawks through two search and seizure operations conducted in October 2017 and August 2018 respectively," Nkwalase added.
Nkwalase said the investigations continued and Bere is expected to appear again on December 13.