Ex-EPTC worker offers to pay stolen E300 000
MBABANE – To purge for her alleged theft, the EPTC postal officer who resigned after purportedly stealing E300 000 from the corporation has given her former employer the green light to take her pension.
Setsabile Gumbi, who was based at Buhleni Post Office, addressed an undated letter to the Eswatini Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (EPTC), giving permission to her former employer to take her pension money from her Standard Bank and Nedbank accounts.
“I hereby allow the company to take my pension in my Standard Bank account and Nedbank account. If in my pension there would be any change, please deposit it in my Standard Bank account,” read Gumbi’s letter.
Gumbi was found to have stolen the money after she had resigned. The corporation conducted an investigation a day after her resignation.
Theft
The theft of the money was discovered after the Mail and Operations Section had found that the postal officer had allegedly stolen E296 521.45.
Gumbi is alleged to have stolen E126 521.45 from a safe. She also allegedly transferred E170 000 to a certain account in her name held at EswatiniBank.
In her resignation letter, Gumbi informer her former employer that she had worked for 15 years “with no thank (you) from your company, thus I quit with immediate effect.”
She also pointed out that she was transferred to Buhleni Post Office on November 1, 2022 and when she complained, she was not taken seriously. As a result, she told her former employer that ‘it is clear that now I’m useless in your company’.
EPTC obtained an order from the High Court directing the EswatiniBank to forthwith withhold the withdrawal of funds from Gumbi’s bank account.
Frozen
The order also directed Gumbi to show cause why monies found in the said bank account should not be frozen pending finalisation of proceedings to be instituted against her.
The court further interdicted her from utilising, withdrawing, transferring, alienation and/or dealing in any manner whatsoever with the money held with EswatiniBank.
MTN Eswatini was ordered to prepare and deliver to EPTC the Mobile Money and telecommunication records of 7640 6217 and 7808 8848 to assist in its investigations into the fraudulent and criminal activities believed to have been perpetrated by Gumbi using those numbers.
The Acting General Manager Corporate Services of EPTC, Lungile Dlamini, told the court that Gumbi’s letter of resignation raised suspicion in the company.
Dlamini said after receiving the resignation letter, EPTC, which is represented by Hasso Magagula of Dynasty Inc Attorneys, instituted an immediate investigation, since there was no plausible explanation for her resignation.
Discovered
According to Dlamini, a report was prepared by the mail and operations manager after it was discovered that an amount of E296 521.45 had been stolen allegedly by Gumbi.
“The resignation by the first respondent (Gumbi) raised eyebrows in that there were no cogent reasons why the first respondent was resigning.
“This then prompted the applicant (EPTC) as part of its operations that once an employee resigns, an investigation is done to balance the books.
“In this instance, there was also an added vehemence, taking into account the unexpected and surprising resignation of the first respondent,” Dlamini said.
She informed the court that in terms of the mail and operations manager’s report compiled yesterday, Gumbi had allegedly committed the theft of the monies.
In light of the discovery of the theft, according to Dlamini, EPTC believed that it had a right to approach the court for an order to secure the stolen money deposited into Gumbi’s account, to seek a preservation order. She stated that there was a possibility that Gumbi’s funds ‘are being depleted as we speak’.
The acting general manager corporate services said they had no knowledge of any assets held by Gumbi to satisfy EPTC’s claim upon completion of the recovery action, save for the money in her bank account.
Dlamini argued that Gumbi would not be prejudiced by the enrolment of the matter with urgency since EPTC required the preservation of the money in bank account, which she said had been obtained unlawfully.
Facilitating
Dlamini also submitted that EPTC discovered that Gumbi used two cellphone numbers; 7640 6217 and 7808 8848 ‘in facilitating the criminal activities and/or stealing of monies belonging to the applicant’.
To assist in the investigation, according to Dlamini, EPTC required the Mobile Money records of the aforementioned cellphone numbers that were being used to perpetrate the theft of monies, allegedly by Gumbi.
She told the court that MTN Eswatini would only release the information, including telecommunication records and Mobile Money activities, if directed by the court to do so.
Despite Gumbi being served with a court order directing her not to deal with her accounts, EswatiniBank notified EPTC that Gumbi had since moved part of the monies to an account at Nedbank and another at Standard Bank.