UIF Refuses to Expose Companies That Defrauded Ters of Millions During COVID-19 Pandemic

• The Unemployment Insurance Fund will not expose the companies that defrauded of Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme funds
• The fund told parliament’s standing committee on public accounts that it could not legally name the campanies that submitted fraudulent claims
• The commissioner said Ters remained vulnerable as of Tuesday, 23 August and exposed potential fraud amounting to R230 million

PRETORIA - The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) says it would not expose the companies that defrauded it of millions in Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) funds. More than R61 billion was paid since 2020, and R14 billion was confirmed to have reached its rightful owners.

The fund told parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) that it was legally advised not to disclose the details of the companies that submitted fraudulent claims. UIF Commissioner Teboho Maruping said six auditing companies were employed to confirm if the companies transferred the money to their employees.

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The fund had R3.2 billion transferred back into its account by the auditors, who found that some of the payments were triggered by fraud cases published in the media, SowetanLIVE reported.

The commissioner said Ters remained vulnerable as of Tuesday, 23 August and exposed potential fraud amounting to R230 million. However, he added that the National Prosecuting Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit was able to preserve R133 million and R123 million of which had been paid back to the UIF.

UIF’s Legal Advisor Lucky Mkhonto said the fund would not reveal the culprits since a legal opinion looked at the fund’s Memorandum of Agreement and said there was no basis covered to name and shame those who would have defrauded.

According to EWN, 10 cases involving 34 accused and seven companies are currently before the courts.

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South Africans react to UIF’s decision:

@JeanMiaka said:

“And why don’t they want to name and shame those companies? How do they intend to fight corruption then? Maybe they colluded with them.”

@colinbraude commented:

“But will UIF lay criminal charges? The companies and their directors will be named then.”

@matladi123 posted:

“They protect people who break the law. They must make sure people are paid their monies no stories.”

@Lawless_za added:

“We need to know these names to avoid doing business with them. It’s the correct thing to do. Why are you hiding criminals?”

Bookkeeper accused of defrauding UIF charged with 32 counts of fraud and sentenced to 135 years

In a related matter, Briefly News also reported a bookkeeper who defrauded the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has been handed a 135-year jail sentence.

Lindelani Gumede stole in excess of R11 million and was sentenced by the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Thursday, 18 August.

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According to News24, Gumede was arrested in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, in August last year after a Hawks investigation uncovered that Gumede processed fraudulent claims to the Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) to the tune of over R11 million.

Source: Briefly News