A man has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for defrauding the Unemployment Insurance Fund and unduly benefitting from the COVID-19 Temporary Employer/ Employee Relief Scheme (TERS).
The man, Dennis Patrick Lerato Modika, was sentenced in the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, after being found guilty on eight counts.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Modika submitted some 1 358 fictitious employee claims over a period of two years to the Department of Labour to benefit from the fund.
“The accused and his company did not have the declared employees in their employ and were therefore not entitled to apply for the relief fund. The department paid an amount of over R5 million in total to a bank account which belonged to the accused.
“The accused was arrested on 10 July 2023 by the members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) in a sting operation in Daveyton,” the NPA said.
TERS was designed by government to assist qualifying businesses that were affected by the national lockdown during the pandemic.
Employers were expected to submit applications to the scheme on behalf of employees and upon approval, were to pay a limited portion of salaries of those employees.
“In arguing for a harsh sentence, Senior State Advocate Frans Mhlongo argued that the court must impose a sentence that does not only reflect the looting of the UIF coffers but also the hardship and suffering imposed on the rightful recipients. He further argued that the accused was only concerned with gratifying the fleeting pleasures of life than with the welfare of his compatriots.
“The NPA welcomes the sentence and applauds Adv. Mhlongo and the Investigating Officer, Warrant Officer Siralile, for ensuring that the abuse of the much-needed relief fund did not go unpunished,” the NPA said.
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