Nikluis Manuel’s company was registered three years after he had already received more than R19m in employee relief funds for 662 workers he did not have.
Manuel’s company Nakomang Enterprise CC is at the centre of the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) probe into R148m of Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) money fraudulently paid by government to undeserving companies.
Nakomang was only registered in 2023, however, it started receiving Ters from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) in 2020.
In one month, October 2022, Manuel received about R14m in four deposits. On October 16, he was paid twice, a total of about R7m. The last payment was R2.8m which was made on October 23, 2023.
The SIU said only R74 was left in Manuel’s account when they started sniffing around and tracing the money.
During this 12-month period, Manuel purchased a truck for cash and transferred portions of the funds into his personal accounts. He also bought a Hyundai H1, followed by another cash purchase of a Mercedes-Benz W205, as well as a trailer and property.
SIU spokesperson Selby Makgotho said Manuel submitted fraudulent application on behalf of 662 ghost employees. However, the investigation discovered that the company did not have a single employee and did not comply with legal requirements and was effectively “nonexistent.”
“These are some of the irregularities we uncovered during the investigation, including non-compliance, funds being allocated without proper monitoring, and indications that the system was tampered with or infiltrated. The registration payments may even have been processed before the company was formally registered,” said Makgotho.
“The account had R74 when we started the investigation ... This was a very complex scheme that defrauded funds intended to benefit workers during Covid-19. Unfortunately, the money was looted,” Makgotho added.
The SIU was recently granted a preservation order by the Special Tribunal to recoup the money from Manuel and his associates, who include his partner Khanyi Angel Nokukhanya, to whom Manuel transferred more than R570,000 to facilitate the purchase of an apartment in Turfontein in October 2023.
Sowetan
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