INLSA
FILE PHOTO: Justice Minister Jeff Radebe released the names of 42 convicted fraudsters. Picture: Cindy Waxa
Durban – Six fraudsters who were convicted in several KwaZulu-Natal cases were among those “named and shamed” on Sunday in the justice department’s campaign to stamp out government corruption.
Justice Minister Jeff Radebe released the names of 42 convicted fraudsters at a press conference in Pretoria.
“This aggressive stance has been initiated to ensure that, for the first time in our democracy, criminals will be made known and held accountable for their actions publicly,” he said.
“It also aims to deter others from engaging in corrupt and criminal activities.”
The names were made public because of the money involved. Other names from the list of more than 3 000 convicted individuals would be released later.
In the 2012/2013 financial year, criminal investigations had been instituted against 242 people in 89 cases. Of that number, 42 had been convicted, and these were the names which were released on Sunday.
In addition, the Anti-Corruption Task Team was investigating 758 people, and assets to the value of R1 billion had been restrained by the Asset Forfeiture Unit.
Listed among the fraudsters were businessmen Ansano Romani and Donald Miller, who were both initially charged in the “Amigos” case.
They were charged along with Uruguayan Gaston Savoi and 20 others – including former Treasury head Sipho Shabalala and several former heads of the Department of Health – with racketeering, fraud and money laundering, with a potential cost to the provincial government of R144m.
The men pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of fraud for submitting false “cover quotes” to the KZN Department of Health to legitimise Savoi’s inflated prices for water purification plants he provided in his allegedly corrupt deals with high-ranking officials.
They were each given R100 000 fines or eight years in jail, and they agreed to testify against Savoi and the others.
The other KZN case related to fraud in the uMkhanyakude Municipality in Jozini, in Maputaland.
In that case, a syndicate gained access to the municipality’s financial administration system and created four false suppliers. Electronic transfers amounting to R6m were then made into the fake suppliers’ bank accounts.
Four people – Pedro Pinto, Mukai Satimbura, Jeremy Joseph and Imran Rehman – were found guilty of fraud or theft. All were given suspended sentences, except Pinto, who was jailed for three years.
On Sunday, Radebe referred specifically to the Post Bank case, in which a syndicate managed to hack into the Post Bank computer system and transfer funds to fictitious Post Bank accounts “created with the specific purpose of committing fraud and theft”. In the end, the syndicate transferred nearly R43m.
Boy Meshack Thekiso, David Mtsoane and Teboho Masoleng were sentenced to 25 years, 15 years and 15 years respectively. Kabelo Kekana’s case is continuing, but has been postponed to July 22 for further investigation.
It was previously reported the unit had attached Kekana’s assets, including a R5m mansion in Midrand, near Joburg, and custom-made furniture worth R1.3m.
“This action is evidence that government has adopted a zero tolerance approach to the fight against all corrupt activities, either in the public or private sector,” the minister said.
The Mercury
