UIF boss seeks tougher terms for Covid fraudsters

Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) commissioner Teboho Maruping wants lengthier prison terms for fraudsters who have stolen millions of rand from the fund’s Covid-19 Temporary Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) .

This week a Midrand couple, Refilwe Kgaje, 40, and her partner Isaac Phiri, 45, were found guilty of fraud amounting to R648,915 by the Johannesburg specialised commercial crime court.

Kgaje, who used her company, Pusoloso Engineering Services, as a front, was fined R100,000 and sentenced to three years and a further 15 years suspended for five years. Phiri was sentenced to 15 years.

Maruping is confident the couple won’t be the last fraudsters to face justice for stealing funds intended for employees who suffered salary cuts or were retrenched during the Covid pandemic.

“We will continue to round up and send fraudsters who stole from the working class to prison. I am pleased with the latest sentences and will insist on even higher sentences so that our message of no tolerance can be crystal clear,” he said.

“The day is coming when those who wittingly stole from distressed workers, will answer to the authorities. Working together with our partners, we will continue to pursue Covid-19 fraud cases until every one has been dealt with.”

The UIF said about 12 people have been convicted and sentenced so far.

One case involved chartered accountant Mark Jonathan Vorster, who was debarred from practising after being sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for theft, fraud and money laundering related to TERS.   

Vorster submitted fraudulent UIF claims on behalf of five companies and received just under R900,000 from the fraudulent transactions.

Separately, bookkeeper Lindelani Gumede was jailed for 20 years for fraud amounting to R11m.

Gumede submitted fraudulent documents to claim the funds on behalf of four bakeries based in Gauteng during 2020.

TimesLIVE