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A man accused of stealing millions of rand from the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s (WVF) temporary Covid-19 relief scheme (Ters) was released on bail of R15 000 on Friday.
Thabo Abel Simbini (32) must appear again on 27 June this year in the specialized commercial crime court in Pretoria.
Rhewal used to report that Simbini was arrested in 2020 during a clandestine operation after he was caught red-handed when he paid a bribe to an officer of the Department of Employment and Labour.
Impossible Solutions, a company belonging to Simbini, allegedly submitted falsified claims for 8,107 ghost employees to the Covid-19 relief scheme on behalf of persons not employed by the company.
According to Capt. Lloyd Ramovha, spokesperson for the Falcons, said this company received more than R111 million in his bank account.
“An initial investigation revealed that only Simbini was declared in the WVF database as an employee of the entity,” Ramovha said.
“The Falcons have received several confirmations from individuals whose details have been submitted who have declared themselves to be employees of the entity. However, they denied having any links with the company. Bank accounts of the entity were consequently frozen, which resulted in Simbini’s arrest, but not before he tried to bribe authorities to withdraw money from the frozen accounts.”
Simbini is charged with fraud, theft and corruption.
Maj. Gen. Ebrahim Kadwa, provincial head of the Hawks in Gauteng, says it is unacceptable that selfish individuals tried to enrich themselves in a devastating period like the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The Hawks will do everything in their power to see that justice is done,” he said.
