TWO Department of Justice officials have been found guilty of multiple counts of fraud, money laundering and racketeering after conning the department out of R3.2-million, which they splurged on alcohol and drugs.
In less than six months, Lovelock Modiba, 41, a senior accountant at the department, and Floyd Vumani, 36, an employee, surreptitiously siphoned off millions of rands from a department bank account between September 2012 and March 2013.
On Friday, Modiba was convicted of 48 counts in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court, while Vumani was found guilty of seven. The two men, who pleaded guilty to the charges in March, may face life imprisonment when they are sentenced next month.
The case of their five fellow accused - three individuals and two close corporations - will continue on October 29. The group's modus operandi involved transferring batches of money, ranging from R33894 to R342775, to either their personal bank accounts or those of two close corporations.
The Knowledge and HR Footprint CC and one of its members, Tsepo Mosadi, 35, are co-accused in the matter, as are Purple Fly Trading CC and the woman who controlled its bank account, Zanele Taleni, 38.
They will be joined in the dock by Seroke Molefe, 52, a senior manager in the department. As senior managers, Modiba and Molefe had access to the department's accounting system and the bank account used for its operations expenses.
They then allegedly registered Vumani, Mosadi and Taleni as service providers on the department's database and began transferring a total of R3221734,39 in 23 transactions over several months.
Payments were allegedly made under the pretence of services rendered, such as training for staff and stationery, when no such services were provided.
Molefe and Modiba were accused of being the ringleaders in the plan to defraud the department "on an ongoing or continuous basis" and of recruiting the other accused, including Vumani, who was their junior in the department.
As time went on, the accused appeared to get more brazen in the amounts transferred. On one day in January last year, Molefe and Modiba transferred over R400000 in three transactions. Then in March, shortly before their scam was uncovered, over R600000 was transferred in two batches.
But after the department's director of finance and supply chain management, Robert Pearce, became suspicious, Molefe, Modiba, Vumani, Mosadi and Taleni were nabbed in June last year. Modiba and Vumani face a lengthy prison sentence - anywhere from 15 years to life in prison, prosecutor Jabulani Mlotshwa said.
In her judgment on Friday, magistrate Fehmida Hoosen said the accused shared the money equally, using it to support their families and splurging on alcohol and drugs.
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
R3.2m spent on booze and drugs
TWO Department of Justice officials have been found guilty of multiple counts of fraud, money laundering and racketeering after conning the department out of R3.2-million, which they splurged on alcohol and drugs.
In less than six months, Lovelock Modiba, 41, a senior accountant at the department, and Floyd Vumani, 36, an employee, surreptitiously siphoned off millions of rands from a department bank account between September 2012 and March 2013.
On Friday, Modiba was convicted of 48 counts in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court, while Vumani was found guilty of seven. The two men, who pleaded guilty to the charges in March, may face life imprisonment when they are sentenced next month.
The case of their five fellow accused - three individuals and two close corporations - will continue on October 29. The group's modus operandi involved transferring batches of money, ranging from R33894 to R342775, to either their personal bank accounts or those of two close corporations.
The Knowledge and HR Footprint CC and one of its members, Tsepo Mosadi, 35, are co-accused in the matter, as are Purple Fly Trading CC and the woman who controlled its bank account, Zanele Taleni, 38.
They will be joined in the dock by Seroke Molefe, 52, a senior manager in the department. As senior managers, Modiba and Molefe had access to the department's accounting system and the bank account used for its operations expenses.
They then allegedly registered Vumani, Mosadi and Taleni as service providers on the department's database and began transferring a total of R3221734,39 in 23 transactions over several months.
Payments were allegedly made under the pretence of services rendered, such as training for staff and stationery, when no such services were provided.
Molefe and Modiba were accused of being the ringleaders in the plan to defraud the department "on an ongoing or continuous basis" and of recruiting the other accused, including Vumani, who was their junior in the department.
As time went on, the accused appeared to get more brazen in the amounts transferred. On one day in January last year, Molefe and Modiba transferred over R400000 in three transactions. Then in March, shortly before their scam was uncovered, over R600000 was transferred in two batches.
But after the department's director of finance and supply chain management, Robert Pearce, became suspicious, Molefe, Modiba, Vumani, Mosadi and Taleni were nabbed in June last year. Modiba and Vumani face a lengthy prison sentence - anywhere from 15 years to life in prison, prosecutor Jabulani Mlotshwa said.
In her judgment on Friday, magistrate Fehmida Hoosen said the accused shared the money equally, using it to support their families and splurging on alcohol and drugs.
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
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