Two convicted of R10m Ters fraud from UIF
A Gauteng couple have been convicted of defrauding the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) Covid Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) out of more than R10 million.
The 37-year-old Morko Moremi and his 34-year-old wife, Treasure Moremi, who were directors at Denmeng Trading, were recently found guilty of fraud by the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court.
The couple had applied for Ters for 553 workers, but they only had 22 employees on their payroll.
“Joint efforts by the UIF’s investigators, law enforcement agencies at the Fusion Centre such as the Hawks, National Prosecuting Authority and the Financial Intelligence Centre led to the couple’s successful arrest and conviction,” said the labour department.
The Moremis are scheduled to be sentenced on 17 May.
The department said this latest conviction comes against the backdrop of the recent court appearance of two separate suspects in relation to receiving R2.7 million from the UIF.
They, too, allegedly failed to use the money in line with the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed with the UIF.
The UIF MOU requires that the Ters monies be paid over to the qualifying workers applied for.
UIF commissioner Teboho Maruping issued a stern warning to those who attempt to defraud the system.
“They will be arrested and punished for their heinous actions,” he said. “Those who have helped themselves to funds earmarked for workers during the lockdown should remember that the law is creeping towards them.
“We will not tolerate the siphoning of workers’ benefits by unscrupulous individuals. All fraudsters are on notice and we hope more suspects are arrested and sent straight to jail.”
To date, there have been four convictions of individuals who defrauded the UIF of Ters funds and 15 more cases have been referred to the SIU for further investigation.
In 2020, the fund embarked on the “follow the money” project and recovered close to R900 million. The department said the project would resume in April with the appointment of audit firms.