Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) Commissioner Teboho Maruping has joined forensic auditors knocking on the doors of employers who benefited from the Covid-19 TERS Relief Scheme in Cape Town as part of Phase Two of the “follow the money” Project.
During a visit to Rickard Air Diffusion in Lansdowne, Cape Town, yesterday, the Commissioner had first-hand experience of how involved the audit process is.
According to Maruping, auditing employers is intricate and can take up to five days before arriving at a preliminary view, allowing the employer to respond.
Maruping says he hopes the audit he joined will show a positive picture, proving that “we have good corporate citizens that do things right.”
The decision to join and intensify the audits came after another successful conviction of two company directors who defrauded the UIF of R10, 6 million worth of Covid-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (Covid-19 TERS) funds.
The directors were sentenced to 10 years of direct imprisonment and a fine of R600 000, respectively. Their conviction followed a joint investigation by the UIF’s investigators and law enforcement agencies at the Fusion Centre, including the HAWKS, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), and the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC).
Last year, Levy Moremi, and his wife, Treasure Moremi, were found guilty of defrauding the UIF by the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court. This was after the couple, both directors of Denmeng Trading, applied for Covid-19 TERS for 537 workers when they only employed about 29 workers.
The money was then transferred and laundered through several entities and personal bank accounts and splurged on items such as a truck, a minibus and a piece of vacant land.
Maruping says the latest convictions have encouraged the UIF to intensify the work following the money project further and dig even deeper.
“Thus far, I am pleased with the work the team is doing and I have personally experienced how involved it is,” says Maruping.
“We will not rest until we can fully account to workers on how their UIF contributions were spent during the Covid-19 pandemic. Anyone who consciously helped themselves to monies meant for distressed workers during the devastating lockdowns when employees lost their income will have their day in court and answer for their crimes. They will not escape prosecution,” says Maruping.
The UIF enlisted the services of more than 360 auditors with accounting and forensic investigation expertise to examine financial records, verify the authenticity of claims and confirm if the correct amounts of money were paid over to workers at the right time at companies who benefited from Covid 19 TERS.
To date, 11 people have been convicted and sentenced to direct imprisonment or suspended sentences for Covid-19 TERS-related crimes. The most prominent Covid-19 TERS case is that of Bookkeeper Lindelani Gumede, who was sentenced last year to 135 years in prison for 32 counts of fraud.
At least 30 suspects were arrested for Covid-19 TERS-related offenses. The Fund anticipates more arrests as Phase Two of the “follow the money” project, which started in July 2022, continues.
“Working together with law enforcement agencies, we will continue to pursue those who have wronged our people,” concluded Maruping.
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