Fidelis Moema, the baby-daddy of content creator and luxury property consultant Sthe Bhengu, appeared in the Johannesburg Commercial Crime Court sitting in Palm Ridge on Thursday for a bail application.
Moema appeared alongside Trevor Machimane and Lebohang Sigubudu. They are charged with fraud and money-laundering involving the missing R16.5-million KPMG bursary funds.
Moema, a bursary specialist at KPMG, was arrested by the Hawks for allegedly diverting funds amounting to R16.5-million into private accounts of friends and ultimately his own account.
Moema has worked for KPMG as a bursary specialist since August 31 2018.
Irregular payments
The company said it fired him in November 2022 after uncovering potential fraud and going through various internal investigation processes.
In court, the state revealed that the charges emanate from over 400 irregular payments allegedly made from KPMG into the accounts of Moema’s associates from October 2019 until November 2022.
This was the same time Bhengu was vocal and boasted about the expensive gifts she received from Moema.
These included a black Range Rover SUV, which he gifted her in 2022.
At the time, she was pregnant. She also showed off a luxury holiday to Sontorini in Greece and a gender reveal in a helicopter.
Misrepresentation of facts
Prosecutor Valencia Dube said that accused number two, Machimane, and accused number three, Sigubudu, would receive monies from KPMG despite not being service providers or bursary recipients.
The two would thereafter pay the bulk of these funds to Moema while keeping a portion for their personal use.
Dube told the court that Moema misrepresented the facts about the circumstances that led to his parting ways with KPMG and his new employer.
“He told his new employer [Nedbank] that he resigned from KPMG in March 2023. According to KPMG, he was dismissed on November 22 2022,” said Dube.
Students robbed of their degrees
The magistrate heard arguments from the lawyers of the accused, as they applied for the freedom of their clients.
Dube said that Moema targeted desperate people who he laundered money through.
She further reminded the court that a large number of students were robbed of their degrees because of funds that were taken from them.
The matter was postponed to Friday for the magistrate, only known as Soko, to make a ruling on whether the accused will be released on bail.
