Three people were arrested in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, yesterday 23 May 2018, for allegedly submitting fraudulent claims worth R100 000 to the Department of Labour’s Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).
The suspects were nabbed by the department’s Risk Management, Anti Fraud and Integrity Management unit in conjunction with the SAPS after the claims were flagged as fraudulent by officials from the Pietermaritzburg Labour Centre last week.
Deputy Director: Risk Management, Anti Fraud and Integrity Management, Sbongiseni Mpanza, said his unit set up a trap with the police by asking the suspects to return yesterday to complete their claims and expect payment.
“The suspects had misrepresented their employment details. One of the suspects claimed to work for KFC, the other claimed to work for Affirmative Portfolios and the last suspect claimed to work for Royal Mnandi. However, when we verified with the aforementioned companies, they denied having ever employed the suspects,” said Mpanza. One of the suspects also had a fraudulent payslip, he added.
Mpanza explained that the suspects were questioned on the discrepancies and they eventually admitted that they had never worked for the companies they listed on their claims. The three suspects were arrested and charged.
The first suspect claimed for R29 747; the second suspect claimed for R34 400; and the final suspect claimed for R36 200. “The potential loss to the Unemployment Insurance Fund was just over R100 000,” said Mpanza.
He added that the UIF has systems in place to flag and detect fraud, while officials in the labour centres had been capacitated through awareness to detect possible fraud.
The UIF urges the public to cease attempts to submit fraudulent claims, as they will be arrested and prosecuted. Anyone who has knowledge of fraudulent activities can report it to 08600 22 194 or email fraud@labour.gov.za
For more information contact:
Lungelo Mkamba
Cell: 079 889 0719
