Jurry Sehunoe, 34, the self-confessed fraud physiotherapist will be sentenced by the Pretoria (South Africa) Specialized Commercial Crimes Court for defrauding the Department of Labour’s (DoL) Compensation Fund (CF) $200,000, according to South Africa’s Department of Labour.
Magistrate N. Setshogoe confirmed in court recently that the State had received the outstanding pre-sentencing reports from the Correctional Services and social workers, which were key in the sentencing process.
Pleaded Guilty in October 2011
Sehunoe, from Rustenburg in the North West, pleaded guilty in October 2011 to defrauding the Department of Labour of $200,000. He was arrested in 2010 together with fellow co-accused, former Department of Labour employees – Maxwell Ramaphosa and Samuel Mfeleng. The three men first made their appearance in Court in March 2010.
After what appears to be an initial indulgence in ‘delaying tactics’ by the accused, Sehunoe broke ranks and made a U-turn in October last year and pleaded guilty.
Sehunoe pleaded guilty to 15 counts of fraud and 26 counts of money laundering.
In a separation of trial, Ramaphosa and Mfeleng’s matter was transferred to the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court. They have since pleaded not guilty, and were due to appear in Court again, both out on a bail of $3,000.
In his statement of admission of guilt, Sehunoe, through his legal representative, Advocate Keitumetsi Mogale, admitted to having received huge amounts of money that were channeled into his personal bank account and that of his businesses which included a driving school and a maintenance/construction company.
Monies Transferred to Personal Bank Account
In the statement Sehunoe further told the Court that the monies were allegedly being transferred to his account by fellow alleged co-accused Ramaphosa and Mfeleng. He said he had earlier informed them that he was no longer comfortable with their continued transfer of substantial sums of money into his accounts which he felt “it is not done in good faith and not entitled to”.
Sehunoe has since been told by the Court to compensate the Department of Labour for the money deposited ‘unfaithfully into his accounts.
The Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) in the Office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions added to Sehunoe’s woes when it announced it had made an application for the seizure of his assets in terms of the Prevention of Organized Crime Act.
In February, the AFU issued a statement that in terms of the Organised Crimes Act it has seized Sehunoe’s property worth $200,000 which included a house, household items as well as two vehicles.
Submitted Fictitious Claims
The fraudsters’ misdeeds include working in collaboration with alleged fellow co-accused to swindle the Department of Labour millions of dollars by submitting fictitious claims and changing personal details of claimants and by-passing electronic systems by using trickery processes to channel payments into their own accounts.
The Compensation Fund is a public entity of the Department of Labour. The Fund provides cover for workers injured at work or for diseases sustained during work.
Author Michael B. Stack, CPA, Director of Operations, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in employer communication systems and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. He is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com.
Contact: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.
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