The Johannesburg specialised commercial crime court convicted a Midrand couple who robbed the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) of more than R600,000 in Covid-19 temporary employee relief scheme (Ters) monies.
Refilwe Kgaje, 40, and her husband Isaac Phiri, 45, of Pusoloso Engineering Services, were charged with two charges of fraud after claiming for 95 workers who did not work for the company.
Kgaje was fined R100,000 and sentenced to three years in prison for fraud, with the remaining 15 years suspended for five years. Phiri received a 15-year prison sentence for fraud.
“The Department Of Employment And Labour paid an amount of over R600,000 to a bank account which belonged to Phiri,” said National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane.
The UIF deposited money four times into Phiri’s account from August 14 to December 22 2020 amounting to R648,915.
After their R350 Covid-19 relief grant application was denied, one of the couple’s “workers” filed a complaint against them. The grant system discovered that the unemployed worker was employed at Pusoloso Engineering Services.
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“The individual went to open a case and that is when the department of employment and labour began investigations. The accused handed themselves over to the police.
“State advocate Vincent Ndzuke argued when the court hands down a sentence it must fit the criminal and the crime and must not underemphasise the seriousness of the offence. If too lenient sentences are imposed for serious offences, this will erode the confidence the public has in the criminal justice system,” Mjonondwane said.
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