Fraud: Two sentenced

Adurban couple found guilty of swindling millions of rands from the KZN Blind and Deaf Society has been sent to jail.

The Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court this week sentenced Ruvanya Ramiah (31) to 15 years’ imprisonment and Ayush Rambally (32) to an effective eight years’ imprisonment.

The couple had pleaded guilty to fraud and theft in June last year.

Natasha Ramkisson-kara, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), said Ramiah pleaded guilty to 354 counts of fraud, amounting to over R12,6 million, while Rambally pleaded guilty to 79 counts of theft, amounting to about R1,7 million.

In her plea, Ramiah said that she was employed as a finance officer at the Kwazulu-natal Blind and Deaf Society from March 2012 to February 2019.

“Her duties included salary payments and general payments, and she had access to and control of the society’s banking accounts.

“She said she committed the fraud by paying herself inflated salaries, twice and sometimes more times in the same month. She also created false payments to suppliers and fabricated evidence to support those payments. The money went into her bank account and her husband’s.”

Rambally said during his plea that he took the money knowing very well that he was not entitled to it, as he was neither an employee nor a creditor of the society.

He admitted to being aware that his actions were unlawful and that he intended to deprive the society of the funds, which he used for his and his wife’s purposes.

In aggravation of sentence, Ramkisson-kara said senior state advocate Andre Carlitz led the evidence of Veetha Sewkuran, who is the president of the society.

“Sewkuran said that once news of the fraud had got out, funders and companies withdrew their funding and association with the society.

“She said that the lack of funds resulted in them retrenching 15 staff members who then took the society to the Council for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), thus causing the society further financial problems.

“Sewkuran said that Ramiah was in a position of trust and she betrayed that trust. The fraud committed has impacted on the reputation of the society, with the society needing to prove itself as it is still under scrutiny from donors and the public. She said that the society may have to close its doors should it not recover from the loss.”

In handing down sentence, Ramkisson-kara said the court found that the couple did not show remorse and pleaded guilty due to the overwhelming evidence against them.

The court concluded that their motive was for greed and not need, as they were receiving an income and Ramiah had a full-time job.