Ramaphosa, Mfeleng and Methi found guilty of defrauding Department of Labour’s Compensation Fund
Three former employees of the Department of Labour’s Compensation Fund (CF) were yesterday (30 May) found guilty of defrauding the Fund in the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court.
The former public servants are Maxwell Ramaphosa, Samuel Mfeleng, and Kgabo Johanna Methi. The trio have been attending the trial since 2011.
Ramaphosa and Mfeleng were found guilty on 10 counts of fraud and money laundering, and Methi was found guilty on three counts of fraud.
Ramaphosa, Mfeleng and Methi are said to have defrauded the Department’s Compensation Fund of R476 150, 58. Ramaphosa, Mfeleng and Methi had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charges. before today’s judgment the accused were out on a warning.
The three former officials of the Department of Labour were accused of colluding with a physiotherapist Dr Jones Mothemola Modau by siphoning the Compensation Fund by creating fictitious claims and channelling the money into Modau’s account and a friend’s Driving School account which would later be shared.
The accused first appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court and their matter was transferred to the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court in a separation of trial, after a fellow accused Dr Modau based in Rustenburg, North West pleaded guilty.
Modau pleaded guilty in the matter in March 2012. He was in the same year handed a multiple suspended sentences by the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court for defrauding the Department of Labour’s Compensation Fund.
He was sentenced to three years of correctional supervision (house arrest) , but allowed to go to work and church. On the same charge of fraud, he was also handed a further three years - suspended for five years - on condition that he does not commit any theft or fraud during the next five years.
On a charge of money laundering, he was sentenced to two-years suspended for a five-year period.
In another case Ramaphosa and Mfeleng were in 2016 found guilty for defrauding the Department’s Compensation Fund R2,1-million and were handed 10 years imprisonment wholly suspended for five years by the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court.
Magistrate M. Moloto said the scam by the trio was well organised to defraud the Department.
Sentencing is expected in two months’ time.
The Compensation Fund is a public entity under the administration of Department of Labour. The CF provides cover to workers injured and/or who contract diseases at work.
Enquiries:
Teboho Thejane
082 697 0694
