Phathiswa Bodlani was on Tuesday granted R5 000 bail after the Hawks’ serious commercial crime investigations team apprehended her for fraud.
Bodlani appeared at the Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court on charges related to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and Covid-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) payments.
Police spokesperson Simphiwe Mhlongo said in a statement that the 37-year-old fraud accused allegedly registered 49 employees for UIF at the Department of Labour between April and August 2020.
Mhlongo said Bodlani then allegedly claimed R1 009 338 for TERS payments. However, the department later discovered that some of the registered employees were not working for her company.
“A case of fraud was reported at the Durban Central police station and a case docket was allocated to Hawks’ members for further investigation,” said Mhlongo.
Bodlani has been ordered to return to court on May 20.
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