The Hawks are not backing down in their pursuit of fraudsters who swindled out millions from the government’s Covid-19 Temporary Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) administered through the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) at the time when South Africa was in the grip of the deadly pandemic.
In the latest breakthrough, the Hawks in Mpumalanga have issued a statement saying that they have arrested a 48-year-old Malawian-born permanent South African resident, his 48-year-old South African wife, and his 39-year-old South African-born brother-in-law in connection with alleged fraud and money laundering activities dating back to 2020.
The three suspects are expected to appear before the Middelburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Alleged fraudsters scored R26m
“According to information received, the main suspect, who is a director of a construction company, allegedly unduly benefited from the Covid-19 TERS administered through the UIF, resulting in an actual loss of R26 943 793.19 to the UIF. The company allegedly claimed benefits for more than 700 ghost employees,” the Hawks statement read.
“A joint investigation conducted by the Hawks’ Nelspruit-based Serious Corruption Investigation, the UIF, the Special Investigating Unit, and the National Prosecuting Authority Asset Forfeiture Unit revealed that the funds were channelled into various bank accounts, including those belonging to the company director, his wife and her company, as well as his brother-in-law, allegedly for personal enrichment.”
Assets buying spree
Further investigations indicated that the funds were used to acquire various movable and immovable assets.
It is further alleged that the brother-in-law played a significant role in recruiting individuals under false promises of employment. Some of the identification particulars used in the claims allegedly belonged to former employees of the company.
The provincial head of the directorate for priority crime investigation in Mpumalanga, Maj-Gen Nico Gerber, commended the collaborative efforts of the various law enforcement agencies involved in bringing the suspects to justice.
“The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Mpumalanga, is committed to serve the residents of Mpumalanga. Criticism is often levelled against law enforcement for failure to bring perpetrators to book. This is yet another example of how law enforcement across agencies work together to ensure criminals are held accountable and seize the proceeds of crime. We remain steadfast in our commitment, and more is to come.” said Gerber.
- The Hawks in Mpumalanga have arrested three suspects, including a Malawian-born permanent resident and his South African wife and brother-in-law, for fraud and money laundering related to Covid-19 TERS funds dating back to 2020.
- The main suspect, a construction company director, allegedly fraudulently claimed approximately R26.9 million from the UIF by submitting payments for over 700 "ghost" employees.
- A joint investigation by multiple agencies traced the misappropriated funds to bank accounts belonging to the suspects and revealed the purchases of movable and immovable assets.
- The brother-in-law allegedly recruited individuals under false employment promises, using stolen identities, some belonging to former employees of the company.
- Maj-Gen Nico Gerber praised the multi-agency cooperation in the investigation and reaffirmed the Hawks’ commitment to holding criminals accountable and recovering crime proceeds.
