The Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) has welcomed the arrest of a 39-year-old bookkeeper who is accused of allegedly swindling the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) of R11.1-million.

The suspect is scheduled to appear in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on August 31.

The bookkeeper is alleged to have submitted Covid-19 TERS claims on behalf of four clients, but without the clients' knowledge. Subsequently, an amount of R11.1-million was paid into the suspect’s business accounts, the DEL reports.

Following joint investigations between the UIF and the police, the suspect was traced and arrested in Durban on August 25.

Acting UIF Commissioner Advocate Mzie Yawa has commended law enforcement authorities for bringing the suspect to justice with speed.

“I hope the latest arrest sends a strong and clear message to other would-be fraudsters that the long arm of the law will catch up with you. Those who have helped themselves to the funds earmarked for workers during lockdown should always remember, the long arm of the law is creeping towards them and they will not have peace.

“Working with law enforcement agencies, we will continue investigating every lead pointing us to suspected fraudulent activities, and we thank the public for being vigilant about abuse of Covid TERS funds. We cannot tolerate the siphoning off of worker’s benefits by unscrupulous individuals. All fraudsters are on notice and we hope more of these suspects will be arrested and sent straight to jail,” she adds.

At least 17 suspects have thus far been apprehended and appeared in various courts around the country for allegedly fleecing the UIF’s Covid-19 TERS Scheme.

The fund has also recovered about R827-million through the “follow the money” project and anticipates that more will be recovered as the project is extended for a further 12 months.